Pictures Of You
by Klaus' Vampire Barbie
Summary: Caroline's a bubbly young blonde majoring in Photography. Klaus is the silent, mysterious guy who's majoring in Visual Art. When a shocking event occurs that leaves Caroline feeling isolated at Whitmore College, will she turn to him – Klaus, the only person who will listen? Or will she face her battles by herself? Klaroline. Fluff. Eventual angst. AU/AH
1. The Beginning

**Hi everyone! I'm back with a new story. This one is based around life at Whitmore College. It's AU. I will say no more.**

**Chapter 1: **_**The** **Beginning**_

* * *

_If you are the one_  
_ then us meeting here is fate._  
_ Future with a dog named Ben_  
_ buy a house with a fireplace._  
_ This is the first I've seen your face_  
_ but there a chance we are soulmates._  
_ I know that this might sound crazy_  
_ cuz you don't know my name._

_- What If, Jason Derulo_

* * *

"Ok, this dress is just gorgeous. I'm so glad I bought it." Caroline said as she rummaged through the contents of her shopping bags. Caroline and Elena had gone on a shopping trip for the day, feeling the need to have some girl time before the first week of college started. Of course it would have been more enjoyable if Bonnie could have come along as well, but she was currently overseas on a student exchange program in Australia. As Caroline continued through her bags, Elena kept her eyes on the road as she drove.

"It really did look great on you Care. It suits you perfectly."

"Crème has always gone well with my skin tone." Caroline said with a nod of her head. Caroline's phone rang and she searched through her bag. Finally finding the phone, she looked at the caller ID and squealed happily.

"It's Bonnie!"

"Bonnie? Well then put it on loud speaker. I want to say hi!"

Caroline answered the phone and put it on loud speaker so all three of them could talk.

"Hey Bon!" Caroline answered and Elena joined in.

"_Hey guys. How are you?"_ Bonnie replied through the phone. There was an evident delay during the phone call, but it was expected with her practically being on the other side of the world.

"We're great. Just heading back to Whitmore from a massive shopping spree. Wish you were here to join us."

"_I wish I was, too."_

"So how's the land down under?" Elena asked.

"_It's great! Definitely not what I was expecting. It's actually green and got lots of plants. I thought it would be red dirt and deserts."_ She replied with a laugh.

"Oh my God, have you seen any kangaroos?" Caroline asked. "What about koala bears? Oh my God, do they have petting zoos for them? Do they actually keep them as pets? Is it true that there are big bugs there? Do you have to live in a yurt like Stefan said?"

Caroline's questions were followed by the light sound of Bonnie's laughter. _"Actually, no. Apparently you can only find all those famous Australian animals in the country and the outback. They don't keep them as pets; yes there are massive bugs – the spiders are seriously freaking me out and I have never seen flies so big in my life; and no, they don't live in yurts. They live in actual houses. And they have amazing beaches, too. It's so beautiful, guys. I wish you could see this."_

"We wish we could see it too, Bon." Elena replied. "We're glad you're enjoying yourself."

"_Thanks guys. Look, I've got to go. It's 3 a.m. here." _

"Crap, that's late. OK, we'll let you go. Talk to you later, Bonnie. Night." Caroline said and ended the call. She put her phone away and frowned. "Well that's disappointing."

Elena raised a brow at her. "What's disappointing?"

"That they don't keep koalas and kangaroos as pets."

* * *

Once they found a park back at Whitmore, they piled out of Elena's car with their bags of shopping and headed for the boarding house. The boarding house was a very particular part of the college. It was always spotless, the cleaners coming in every night to give it the attention it needed. Though the style of it was sophisticated, it felt warm like a home that had been loved from the beginning.

The two girls headed up to their shared dorm and found a flier stuck up on the pin board in the corridor on their way. Caroline stopped Elena and they both had a quick read over it.

"'Come along to the annual Whitmore College Ball. Dress to impress and put your jazz shoes on to revisit the 1920's!' Huh, 1920's. Sounds alright." Elena said.

By this point, Caroline's eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open. "Are you serious? This sounds fantastic! We should go! Get dressed up in tasselled dresses, cute heels, feathers in our hair, and dance to jazz music. We should go together! You and me. Girl dates!"

Elena bit her lip in thought at the poster before turning to Caroline. Caroline was beaming, dying to be able to do something and go somewhere fun and exciting, and what better than a 1920's themed Ball?

Elena's voice was resigned. "I don't know if it's my ki–"

"No. None of that crap. It's the 1920's for crying out loud! We _need_ to go." Caroline cut her off. "You have no choice. You're coming with me."

Caroline grabbed Elena by the wrist and dragged her down the hall to their dorm room, rambling on about buying tasselled dresses and silk gloves while Elena rolled her eyes at her friend.

* * *

"Come on. Hurry up Elena. We're going to be late for our first class!"

"I'm coming! Just let me get my art pencils."

Caroline wasn't one to be late, and waiting for Elena right up until the last minute was making her anxious. She was always on time, and waiting for her best friend had turned out to be a mistake. Yes, she loved Elena, but the girl seriously needed to get her priorities right. She had spent a good twenty minutes on the phone talking to Damon freaking Salvatore that morning while Caroline was eagerly getting ready for their first day of college. Elena taking her time was making Caroline continuously bounce up and down on her toes nervously. Safe to say, if they were going to be late for their first class, Caroline was going to haemorrhage.

Elena finally appeared through the door and Caroline didn't waste any time grabbing hold of her friend's wrist and dragging her out of the boarding house and towards the building that held the art rooms. As soon as they arrived, Caroline looked at the time on her phone and released a sigh of relief.

"We've still got two minutes until the lesson starts. Thank god." She said then pointed a finger accusingly at Elena. "If you do that again, I swear I will leave without you next time. You almost made me late, Elena."

"I'm sorry, Care, but Damon called and –"

"Damon can survive another two hours without talking to you, and so can you." She said then released a resigned sigh, knowing that she was probably sounding like a total bitch. "I'm just looking out for you, Elena. Don't sacrifice college when it's only just started. You're always calling him. It's not like Damon is going anywhere but to his wine cellar and the Mystic Grill. Call him during our lunch break. I just want this year to be great for both of us, you know?"

Elena took a deep breath and nodded, giving Caroline a small smile. "I know. I need to stop with the clingy girlfriend charade. I'm sorry."

"Hey," Caroline put a hand on her friend's arm, "No need to apologise. Let's just get through our first day of college alive."

They followed another student in the door and found that half the room was already full, the other half of the students not having arrived yet. Caroline didn't know how they could just show up late and carry on like nothing happened. She internally scoffed at the idea of horrible punctuality and searched for two seats beside each other for the two girls to take. Elena pointed out two chairs and headed over to them, Caroline following close behind her. They walked past a guy with dark hair and brown eyes, and he had stubble gracing his jawline. He gave Caroline a once over before giving her a troublesome smirk.

"Hello gorgeous."

Caroline raised a brow at him and scoffed, rolling her eyes in the process.

They sat a row behind him, and Caroline took her place between Elena and a reserved-looking guy with sandy blonde hair. This guy also had stubble along his jawline like the earlier guy, but what made him stand out was the colour of his piercing blue eyes that were locked on her. He had predominant cheekbones and plump red lips. Caroline bit down on her bottom lip anxiously before quickly turning her gaze down to her books and stationary on her desk, her inner neurotic control freak taking over and making her sort and place her equipment as accordingly as possible on her desk.

Caroline fought the urge to look back at him, not letting her curiosity get the better of her, and was thankful when their art tutor walked into the room. She forced her attention to the front as their tutor introduced herself as Lexi Branson and started explaining what she was going to teach them during the semester. Lexi was a beautiful woman, Caroline noted, and she seemed like the calm and casual type. As she told them about the folio of research they would have to do later in the semester for their theory work, Caroline snuck a glance from the corner of her eye at the blue-eyed guy next to her and found him still watching her. He made her nervous, knowing that he was watching her, but she wasn't any better than him since she was doing the same thing to him as well. She swallowed and forced her gaze back to the front of the room where Lexi was, trying to focus on what the tutor was saying.

Caroline spent most of the lesson looking back and forth between Lexi and the blue-eyed boy next to her. To say that he was attractive was an understatement. He was hot in a sexy, dangerous kind of way. Mysterious, even, since Caroline knew nothing about him. To fix that issue, Caroline quickly grabbed a pen and a sticky note and scribbled down a message on it to pass to Elena.

_Who's the guy with the blue eyes next to me? Do you know anything about him? He keeps staring at me. It's weirding me out._

Caroline waited as Elena read over the note with a contorted expression before writing a response on it. Caroline took the note back from her and read over it.

_Why wouldn't he be staring at you? You're Caroline Forbes. You're gorgeous! Even that guy from earlier said so, too. And his name is Klaus. I think his surname is Michaels or Mikaelson. One of the two. Oh, and he's British too. That's all I know so far._

Caroline folded up the sticky note and clenched it in her hands to hide it. She snuck another look in his direction and noticed he was looking at her fist where she held the note. His eyes wavered from her hands to her face for a moment, the two of them making brief eye contact, before he turned his gaze to the front of the room and kept it there for the rest of the lesson.

By the end of the lesson, Lexi had set them a weekly assignment where she would give them a theme to sketch to hand up in their lesson each week. This week's theme was opposites and Caroline would have to think of something to sketch before the week was up. A part of her wished that she didn't have to do visual art for her degree. She just wanted to study photography and become a professional photographer. That's all.

* * *

Klaus noticed her as soon as she walked in, and for the rest of the lesson, it was a struggle to keep his eyes off of her. She was exquisite. She radiated beauty without even having to try. Her eyes were a stunning shade of blue and shone with the rest of her presence. Her skin was a soft creamy colour that allowed the blush in her cheeks to show. Her blonde curls cascaded around her gorgeous face and shoulders, and her lips were a soft shade of pink. She was absolutely breath-taking.

He watched her and her friend as they made their way towards the row of seats he sat at, passing by a guy he remembered saying earlier that his name was Enzo. Klaus watched as Enzo smirked at the girl and heard his _'Hello gorgeous'_ remark. Klaus pursed his lips, oddly enough not liking the fact that Enzo spoke to the girl. He watched as the beauty scoffed and rolled her bright blue eyes at Enzo and, to Klaus' delight, walked over and took a seat at the desk right next to him. He wanted to say something to her, but he was sure he was just going to receive the same response that Enzo got, so he stayed silent and simply observed.

Klaus gave all of his attention to the girl during the entire class, ignoring Lexi who was speaking out the front of the classroom. He watched as he noticed the beautiful blonde sneak glances in his direction every now and then. He knew nothing about this girl, but he wanted to know everything about her now. He didn't know why. He was probably just bored, but she fascinated him. She intrigued him. He wanted to know her name, what she was studying for, what she wanted in life, her hopes and dreams. He wanted to know it all.

He saw her take out a pen and a sticky note pad and scribbled something down on it before passing it to her brunette friend. Klaus saw her friend's expression contort and he gnawed on the inside of his mouth, curious as to what was written on the paper. Once the girl wrote something back and handed it to the blonde again, he noticed her looking in his direction once again. He was almost certain after that quick glance that the note said something about him.

He stared at the note in her fist for a moment before looking back at her briefly. He wanted to say something to her, but he resisted and finally turned his gaze to Lexi who was talking about the weekly assignment, his mind still focussed on the thought of the beautiful blonde next to him.

Once the class was over, Klaus took his time collecting his books, seeing as the girl had plenty to pack up. He wanted to pull her aside and speak with her, at least get a name, so he stayed back and collected his belongings at the same pace as her. However, he noticed her friend was patiently waiting for the blonde to finish, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to get her alone. Putting his sketch book down, he took the few steps he needed to reach her table and put his hands in his jeans pockets.

"Good afternoon ladies." Klaus said with his dimpled smile, the one he knew worked well on women. "I believe we haven't formally met. I'm Klaus Mikaelson."

The two girls exchanged a glance, the brunette's face covered with an unsure expression while the blonde beauty bit down on her bottom lip. The brunette introduced herself as Elena, but Klaus didn't particularly care about her. He wanted to know the name of the blonde.

"I'm Caroline," she finally replied, "Caroline Forbes."

Klaus smiled and took her hand to kiss the top of it. He felt her hand jerk slightly in his and he saw the blush that was overcoming her cheeks. It only made him grin even more.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Miss Forbes."

* * *

**Let me know what you think in reviews! :) I'll write the next chapter as soon as possible!**

**Celeste xoxo**


	2. The White Rose

**Hello all! First of all, I'm so happy you enjoyed the first chapter. It was a joy to write. I might not be able to update for about a week after this chapter because I have exams next week, so hopefully I can get a chapter up ASAP! For now, you'll have to make do with this chapter.**

**Chapter 2: _The White Rose_**

* * *

_Don't run  
Stop holding your tongue  
Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live  
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in  
Show me how big your brave is_

_Say what you want to say_  
_And let the words fall out_  
_Honestly, I want to see you be brave_  
_With what you want to say_  
_And let the words fall out_  
_Honestly, I want to see you be brave_  
_  
- Brave, Sara Bareilles_

* * *

"I don't know why I'm taking visual art. I suck at it."

Caroline's first weekly sketch hadn't exactly turned out very well. She had no clue what to draw. The process of Caroline completing her weekly sketch was something along the lines of thinking of an idea for four days, attempting to sketch that idea for the next two days, and just giving up the morning of the day it was due. To represent opposites in her sketch, she decided to go with fire and ice, so she drew blue fire. _Soooo creative_. She knew it wasn't that great, but it was something.

Caroline and Elena placed their sketches on Professor Branson's desk and made their way to their seats. Caroline wasn't at all surprised when Klaus walked in and took a seat next to her. He could pick from a half dozen seats to take, and of course he chose to sit right next to her.

"Good afternoon, sweetheart." He said with a smirk as he took his seat. Caroline felt her face flush from embarrassment. Over the past week, he had gotten into a habit of calling her _sweetheart_ and _love_, and she didn't know how to take that. To say it made her nervous was an understatement.

Elena raised a brow at Caroline, waiting to see how she was going to react to it. It was almost as if Elena was encouraging her to persist with possibly getting with this guy.

"Hi…" she replied, not sure how to get any other words out of her mouth because of her nervousness. She kept herself occupied by organising her papers in her folder and sketch book, needing something to distract herself. She turned to Elena who was shaking her head at her and rolling her eyes. Caroline bit her lip. She wanted to talk to him, don't get her wrong, but she didn't know what to say. Elena gave her a look that said _Well? What are you waiting for?_ Caroline took a deep breath before turning to him.

"So…," she started and paused for a moment to think of something to say, "how has your week been?"

Klaus smirked down at his sketch book that currently held his attention. Caroline saw the pencil in his hand move easily along the paper as he drew, and Caroline couldn't help but feel envious of the fact that he had artistic talent and she didn't.

"My week has been alright. Rather hectic first week, though seeing you around campus makes it bearable." He said and glanced in her direction in time to see her blush. "How has your week been, sweetheart?"

Caroline raked her brain for an answer as her jaw hung open, stuttering for an answer. As if it wasn't hard enough to talk to him because of how attractive he was, him making comments like that made her lose her train of thought.

"I, uh – it's been alright. That first weekly sketch was a little stressful." She said and realised he probably didn't really care. "I mean, I couldn't think of anything to draw and I'm not the best at art."

"I'm sure you're perfectly capable, love. And it doesn't matter whether it looks good or not as long as the personal and emotional message gets across in the artwork." He said simply with a nod. "The story behind the piece is what earns appreciation, not the idea itself."

She gaped at him briefly before mentally shaking herself out of shock. "So I could paint an entire canvas all black and if I said it represented a personal fear of oblivion, people would think it is grade A art?"

He chuckled and nodded. "Something along those lines, yes. Art critics would think you are ingenious."

She smiled, her uneasiness slowly diminishing as their conversation continued. She was starting to feel more comfortable around him, and yes, a little more confident. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"So what did you do for your first weekly sketch then? Please enlighten me since you're so artistically academic."

"Well the theme was opposites, so I sketched a withering white rose."

Caroline raised a brow in confusion at his explanation. "And that represents opposites how?" she asked, not getting it.

He chuckled. "The white rose represents purity and innocence, hence why I chose to have the rose dying because it would represent the corruption of innocence as life goes on, therefore showing the theme of opposites."

Caroline's jaw hung open. _Why did he have to come up with a good idea and I couldn't even think of anything?! That's not fair!_ She felt even more stupid with her blue fire idea now. It annoyed her that he was both hot and intelligent. Definitely not what she needed right now.

"Oh… Right." She managed to say after a while. "So I'm guessing there's a personal connection to the sketch then? All that personal meaning jargon you were going on about before?"

Klaus laughed and smiled at her. "Something along those lines, yes."

"So you're not that innocent after all. I didn't think so."

"Careful, love. You barely know me." He reminded her, his dimpled smile being replaced by a smirk. "So what did you sketch this week?"

Caroline felt embarrassment wash over her. She didn't want to tell him her lame idea. Before she could open her mouth and make a fool of herself, Lexi stepped into the classroom, and Caroline was flooded with relief. She turned back to Klaus, only to find his attention now on Lexi speaking out the front, but he still took the time to glance over at Caroline with a lazy smile and gestured to Lexi, telling Caroline to pay attention.

* * *

After their art lesson, Caroline and Elena decided to go and have their lunch out in the courtyard. They sat under a tree, Caroline wanting to take photographs with her new Canon camera she had bought before college started. The spot overlooked the rest of the courtyard, along with the lake just down the small hill from where they sat. It was a picture perfect scenery.

"I have no idea what I'm going to sketch for this week's assigned theme. What can you draw that represents loneliness? Like, seriously." Elena rambled between bites of her apple. Caroline kept taking photos, not exactly hungry enough to have lunch.

"I have no clue either. I need to think of something smart though, or something that means something to me. Apparently that turns out better."

"Why?" Elena asked. "Because Klaus said so?"

"Hey, don't be mean." Caroline whined as she looked at her friend who was trying to not laugh at her.

"You get so nervous around him Care. It's funny."

"It's not funny." She pouted and put her camera down after taking a few more shots. "It's embarrassing. I've never been so awkward in my entire life."

"Well you seemed more confident this afternoon in art when you were talking to him. You should have flirted with him, Care. Get in there."

Caroline pulled a horrified expression and shook her head at her friend. "No. Just because I think he's hot, doesn't mean I want to flirt with him. I barely know the guy. Besides, he seems like he would be a heartbreaker. I don't want to have to deal with that then be disappointed. I'd rather be single."

That was partly a lie. She didn't want to be single. Most of her friends had partners. Bonnie had Jeremy, Elena had Damon (not that she approved of her best friend dating a total douche), and Stefan was currently avoiding relationships at all costs because Elena had broken his sweet little heart when she left him and moved onto his brother. Caroline didn't want to become vulnerable like Stefan had, but she didn't want to be alone either. Elena always got the guys, and Caroline was always second best. She didn't want to be second best anymore.

Still, she didn't want to be broken like Stefan, and it made her feel conflicted. She just wanted someone to give her a little attention without a big mess to deal with in the long run.

"Whatever," Elena replied, "but I seriously think you should go for it. You like the bad boy type, and he certainly looks like the kind."

"But the bad boys are never good for a girl in the end, Elena. I learnt that from dating Damon the Demon." She said sourly, and Elena frowned at the name Caroline had used for her current boyfriend.

"You need someone that challenges you, though. You think he's hot and he makes you nervous. There's a challenge right there! Get over your nerves and make a move."

"No." Caroline deadpanned. "I'm not doing that. Now can we please change the subject?"

* * *

When History came around, Caroline made sure to put at least three seats between both herself and Klaus. She didn't need to see him and then get all flustered in the middle of the class. However she soon came to think that her luck was running thin when she got paired up with him for their first assignment.

_You have got to be kidding me._

She stayed at her table and sat with her arms crossed over her chest, trying to hide the frown of disappointment that was threatening to show on her face. Part of her liked that they were partnered up, but another part of her screamed about how it was going to make it harder to avoid him with his perfect dimpled smile and his amazing blue eyes and his –

"Well Sweetheart, it's as if the universe is drawing us together. It must be fate."

His voice snapped her out of her reverie and she watched him take a seat next to her, everyone having to get into their groups to discuss their planning for the assignment. They had to pick a historical figure that had an impact on the world and had to do a presentation on their chosen person.

"I wouldn't call it fate. I would call it a coincidence." She replied with a confident nod of her head. Elena was right about her confidence starting to boost around him. So much for wanting to keep her distance.

"Call it what you want, love, but I think otherwise." He gave her a wink and she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. _Don't fall for it. Don't fall for it. Don't fall for his annoyingly hot charm!_

"I think we should just get onto the assignment." She said, wanting to change the subject. To distract herself, she took out the assignment sheet and read over it, but couldn't entirely focus on it when she could feel Klaus lean closer to her to read it with her. She rolled her shoulders back, feeling a little uncomfortable and nervous from the closeness, but he didn't seem to have an issue with it. In fact, she swore she felt him move closer because of it.

Feeling awkward, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, Caroline not exactly being one to have a filter for her mouth.

"I think we should look at a President or someone like that. They're well known historical figures."

"Or we could look at someone such as William Shakespeare who has had a major influence and impact on English and the dramatic arts, and he also still has a big influence on us to this very day. There would be plenty of research to find and he is rather fascinating, don't you think? A real man of culture, too, and he was brilliant with comedy."

"I honestly don't see how his weird language and boring plays are funny." She retorted.

Klaus smirked. "On the contrary, love. His plays are quite amusing. Did you know that they are practically all dick jokes and sex jokes? Especially _Romeo and Juliet_. _Very_ comical."

Caroline frowned, hating the feeling that she had been beaten at something. She considered the option, and even though she wasn't too fond of reading Shakespearian plays, she was more than willing to try something new and go along with it. It was a good idea, anyway.

"Alright, fine. We'll do Shakespeare, but don't expect me to understand any of it."

Klaus gave her a dimpled smile and Caroline had to keep herself from drooling. "No worries, love. I am more than happy to help you."

* * *

_"For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo."_

_- Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare  
_

* * *

**Let me know what you thought in reviews!**

**Celeste xoxo**


	3. Caroline's Passion

**Hello lovely Klaroliners! Sorry it's taken me a few weeks to update this story. I've been trying to finish _Charge_ (my other Klaroline fanfic) and have finally done so! So if you haven't checked it out, go do so right after this chapter (pretty please with JoMo on top? xox) I will be starting the sequel to _Charge_ very soon as well. Apart from that, I've had exams the past week, rehearsals, and sadly, a death in my family. However, writing is part of my daily life and life must go on.**

**Without further ado, here is the next chapter of _Pictures Of You_...**

**Chapter 3: _Caroline's Passion_**

* * *

_The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name –_  
_It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change._  
_ Hey Stephen,_  
_ Why are people always leaving?_  
_ I think you and I should stay the same._

_- Hey Stephen, Taylor Swift_

* * *

"Hey Bon. How's your time in the land down under going?"

A few days had passed and Elena still hadn't gotten the memo about not having to constantly talk to Damon. As much as she loved her friend and wanted her to be happy, she didn't want her to become reliable on Damon and to be stuck to his hip. Caroline had to make sure her friend didn't get too attached to him in case he ended up breaking her sweet, kind heart. She didn't need anyone else being heartbroken like Stefan.

Caroline hadn't spoken to Bonnie the past few days, and decided to give her a ring now, considering that it would probably be about 7pm in Australia for Bonnie and it was morning for Caroline back in America. Caroline needed to blow some time anyway since she was meeting up with Klaus in fifteen minutes and it wouldn't take her that long to get everything organised before he showed up. What better than to sit outside and talk to one of your best friends?

"_Going pretty well. My exchange family took me to go scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef yesterday. It was amazing, Care. I saw the place where Finding Nemo was based!"_

Caroline laughed at her friend's excitement. "I can imagine how pretty it was."

"_Care, I can't even explain how beautiful it is. It's mind blowing. Oh, and I even tried a kangaroo burger."_

Caroline's expression contorted in horror. "They eat kangaroos? But I thought they wouldn't considering it's an Australian animal."

"_Well, apparently some people do. Not all of them. Some people think it's gross, but it honestly doesn't taste that different from other meats."_

"You're crazy. It sounds gross."

"_It sounds it, but it's actually not. But enough about me. How's everything at Whitmore?"_

Caroline leaned back against the back of the bench and crossed her legs. "It's going alright. Elena is so wrapped up in Damon though, so I hardly see her around that much anymore. I see my assignment partner more than what I see her." Caroline said with a roll of her eyes, though she knew Bonnie couldn't see it.

"_Is this the hot British guy?"_

Caroline's jaw dropped. She hadn't said anything about a hot British guy to Bonnie before. "Who told you about him?" she asked completely gobsmacked by this new news. "It was Elena, wasn't it? She told you. Oh, and FYI, there's more than one British guy in my classes, thank you very much."

Bonnie was silent for a brief moment, and it was all Caroline needed to know Elena definitely told her.

"_Well the one in your art and history classes. What did Elena say his name was? Mitchell or Michael or something?"_

Caroline released a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes again. "You mean Mikaelson. Klaus Mikaelson."

"_Yeah, that one! Elena says that you say you don't care that much about this guy at all, but she thinks otherwise. We can totally see right through you, Care."_

"I do not, nor will I ever, have any romantic feelings for some cocky, flirtatious man who I've only just met. Doesn't matter if he is hot with a sexy accent, I will not go down the path I went down with Damon all over again."

"_Oh come on, Care. You can't avoid men forever. You need a little adventure and special attention in your life."_ Bonnie said and Caroline could just picture Bonnie wiggling her brows at her with a smirk on her face. _"You even said that he's hot. Clearly you're attracted to him. Just go for it."_

"Now you're sounding just like Elena." Caroline said dully. "I'm not going to give myself over to some guy just because I think he's attractive and has a jaw-dropping accent. I still –"

"Good morning sweetheart."

Caroline jumped at the sound of the voice and a surprised squeal escaped her lips. She spun around where she sat and looked up at him as he stood there with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. Caroline could hear Bonnie asking her what was going on through the phone, Bonnie constantly repeating "_Who's that? Oh my God, he sounds British! Is that him?"_

"Klaus." Caroline said in a breathy voice, trying to compose herself, though suddenly feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over her. _How long has he been standing there?_ "You scared the Hell out of me."

"_Oh my God, it _is _him! His accent is so hot, Care. Get in there!"_

"I've got to go Bonnie." Caroline quickly said into the phone and hung up on her. She shoved the phone back into her pocket as he chuckled, and Caroline felt her face go even redder. She couldn't even bring herself to look at him after that.

"I apologise for scaring you, love. I thought I would get here early knowing that you are one to stick well with schedules and thought we could get started earlier."

"Well I've had to cut my conversation with my friend short because of you." She replied a little bluntly, but he didn't seem to care about her rudeness. Instead, he took a seat next to her on the bench.

"It certainly sounded like an interesting conversation." He said and glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Caroline shrunk back into the bench.

"How much did you hear?" she asked, then quickly added, "Not that it was anything important."

"Not much." He replied, though Caroline could somehow tell that was a lie. She didn't push for a truthful answer though, not wanting to have to explain herself as to why she was talking about him. She didn't even know why yet.

"Well I think we should get started then. This paper isn't going to write itself." She said after a long pause and opened up her laptop. Anything that would divert her attention from his intense blue eyes was a welcome distraction. Not that she didn't want to look at him. She really did want to, like, _really_ badly, but she knew that she would just ramble on and on about something to stop there from being any awkward silence and then completely embarrass herself in front of the guy. Not a good idea, especially after him possibly over-hearing her conversation about him with Bonnie.

"Okay love." He said and set about flipping through his history folder. Caroline closed her eyes briefly, trying to contain her reaction to him calling her love again. Caroline thought it was funny how such a simple thing as being called _love_ or _sweetheart_ by this guy could affect her so badly. Surely it wasn't the accent, considering that Enzo had one too and always called her gorgeous and she never reacted in the same way as she did when Klaus spoke to her. Hell, he didn't even need to say anything. Caroline just needed to see Klaus and she would already be weak at the knees.

Caroline opened up a tab on her laptop and started on her research on Shakespeare in an attempt to keep herself distracted, all the while sneaking a glance at him every now and then, unable to help herself.

* * *

"So Shakespeare is the guy who created iambic pentameter?"

"No." Klaus said with a shake of his head. "He used it in almost all of his pieces, but no, he didn't create it. People often get tricked into thinking he developed it."

"Okay." Caroline said with a nod and bit her bottom lip. "This just proves how much I really shouldn't use Wikipedia as a source."

Klaus chuckled, the blonde always having something amusing to say. He hadn't forgotten about her little conversation with her friend earlier so easily, though, and it kept playing over and over in his mind the entire time they spent working on the assignment. Of course, he hadn't heard the full conversation, but he had a good idea that they were talking about him. Who else at Whitmore had an accent apart from Klaus? Sure, Enzo had one, but the way Caroline had become so nervous when he spoke up behind her only strengthened his suspicions.

"So what play were you thinking we should analyse?" he heard her ask and it brought his attention back to the present moment. He didn't have to think much about which play he wanted to do an in-depth study on for this assignment.

"Romeo and Juliet." He said straight away and she raised a brow at him in question. "I think people just assume it's a play about love and tragedy, but it's so much more than that. I know that's what you also think Caroline, so that's why I think we should focus on that one. Then you will truly understand the sub-text of the play and appreciate it more."

"You know you sound like you're from a whole other century when you speak like that. You sound old."

Klaus chuckled at her observation. "Maybe I just have an appreciation for the fine arts?"

"Or maybe you're going to end up being one of those old men that sits down every day to watch Antiques Roadshow?" she suggested with a smile and couldn't help adding a teasing tone to her voice.

A smile appeared on his face and Caroline felt confused as to why. He raised a brow at her and leaned forward with his hands clasp together in front of him. "Caroline Forbes, are you flirting with me?" he said with mock horror.

Caroline felt her cheeks turn red and they burned as if they were on fire. She didn't intentionally flirt with him, it just happened. Was she even flirting with him? She didn't know, but apparently it had come across that way if he thought so.

"I don't know." She said lamely and looked at her phone as a distraction. Her eyes widened when she saw the time. "Oh crap. I've got Photography in five minutes." She said and started to pack her laptop and books away in a rush. Klaus too started packing up his folders, and within a minute, Caroline was ready to leave.

"I've got to go. We'll organise another time to meet up for the assignment. Bye!" she said quickly before taking off and leaving him there to ponder over why she was acting so nervous.

Caroline hurried across the courtyard towards the arts building and slowed down her pace when she felt as if she had forgotten something. She checked herself for her stuff. She had her laptop, her books, pencils and pens, USB…

She was missing her camera.

"Oh no, no, no." she mumbled under her breath and turned on her heels to rush back to where she realised she left it on the bench. She rushed around the corner of the building and collided with someone, causing a loud '_Oooff!'_ to escape both hers and the other person's lips.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I –" she trailed off when she saw him and felt her cheeks go bright red. "Klaus. Oh God, I'm sorry, I just –"

"You forgot your camera." He cut her off and held up the Canon camera that she absolutely adored. She reached out and gingerly took it from him, giving him a shy smile as she did so.

"Thanks." She said quietly and brushed a loose curl behind her ear nervously. He gave her a nod and watched her, and Caroline raked her brain for something to say to fill the silence. A mixture of nervousness and awkwardness threatened to make an appearance and make her say something stupid. As if she hadn't embarrassed herself enough in front of the guy…

"I should probably go." She said and gestured down the hall to the photography studio where her class was being held.

Klaus nodded and took a step back. "Of course, Caroline. I'll see you soon." He gave her a small smile before turning and walking off.

"Yeah…" Caroline said quietly once he left. "See you soon…"

* * *

An hour later, Caroline had officially decided that Photography was her favourite subject. Yes, it was the reason why she was at college and majoring in it because she wanted to be a photographer, but she found that she even liked the theory side of it. They had been given their major assignment today, and she was over-excited about being able to go around campus and photograph everything for it.

She made her way back to her dorm in a good mood, feeling like her day honestly couldn't get any better. When she arrived, she found Elena sitting cross-legged on her bed, typing away on her laptop. Caroline made her way over to Elena's bed and flopped down on it with a large smile on her face.

"Hey!" Caroline beamed at her friend and lifted her Canon to take a picture of Elena. Elena replied with a bored 'hello' before looking up at her friend.

"You're seriously cheerful today. Did you hook up with Klaus or something?"

Caroline's defences instantly went up. "What? No!" she said with a vigorous shake of her head. "I just had the best Photography lesson in the history of college lessons. I'm so excited for this assignment."

"Well you do like projects."

"Exactly, but this one is even better. It's pretty much a personal port-folio of photographs and descriptions of whatever we want as long as the images have personal meaning behind them. Kind of like with visual art."

"Except you're more in your element with your camera?" Elena guessed and Caroline nodded.

"Exactly!" Caroline stood up from Elena's bed and went to grab her handbag. "Now close the laptop and let's go shopping. I've been having a great day, so we're going to top it off with dress shopping for the College Ball!"

* * *

An hour later, both of the girls each had half a dozen dresses to try on. They had tried on most of them so far, and had sent pictures to Bonnie asking for her opinion on the dresses, and so far she had liked most of them, but just like Elena and Caroline, she hadn't fully loved any of the designs yet.

"This next one has to be the one." Caroline said as she slipped out of the black dress and started to put on the next one – a short red dress with tassels.

"I hope so for both of us too, Care." She heard Elena reply through the change room wall. Caroline put her arms through the straps and zipped up the back of the dress before looking at her reflection in the change room mirror. Caroline turned to the side and assessed herself in the dress, doing a small twirl before finally coming to a conclusion.

"Elena. I think I've found the dress I've been looking for!"

"Same here, Caroline!"

"Come on, show me!" Caroline said as she stepped out of her change room and waited for Elena to come out. Elena stepped out wearing a while sequined dress with cap-sleeves. The two girls looked each other over before both jumping up and down, clapping their hands and squealing excitedly.

"You look hot, Caroline. Absolutely hot."

"Look who's talking!"

The girls squealed excitedly again as the sales assistant popped her head around the corner. "How are you girls going with your outfits?"

Caroline and Elena shared a look before turning to the sales assistant. "We'll take them!"

* * *

**What did you all think? Please leave a review in the little review box right under this chapter :) Happy reading!**

**Celeste xoxo**


	4. Date Night

**Hello again Klaroliners! Here's another chapter for all you sweethearts out there (you see what I did there? ;)) This one is a little fluffy, but who doesn't like a bit of fluff?! I spent my entire day writing this chapter, so I really hope you like it!**

**Chapter 4: _Date Night_**

* * *

_I met him out for dinner on a Friday night_  
_ He really had me working up an appetite_  
_ He had tattoos up and down his arm_  
_ There's nothing more dangerous than a boy with charm  
_  
_ He's a one stop shop, makes the panties drop_  
_ He's a sweet-talkin', sugar coated candy man_  
_ A sweet-talkin', sugar coated candyman_

_- Candyman, Christina Aguilera_

* * *

Klaus waited patiently outside of the classroom. He knew she had a photography lesson that day, so he waited outside for her to appear through the doorway. No, he wasn't stalking her. He just happened to get a look at her colour-coded timetable (she truly was an organisation freak) the day before when studying together and he just happened to have a good memory. He looked at his watch and saw that it was exactly 11:50a.m. She should be out any second…

Sure enough, the photography students started pouring out of the classroom, and he wasn't surprised to see Caroline leaving last. She probably stayed back to speak with her lecturer. He pushed off from where he leaned against the wall and caught her arm to keep her from walking off.

"Caroline." He said and she turned around to face him, momentarily looking down at his hand on her arm before looking up at him.

"Hey." She replied, a little taken aback by him being there. "Were you – were you waiting outside my classroom?"

Klaus went to go answer and realised that he was wrong; it did seem a little stalker-ish. He licked his lips and pressed them into a thin line. "I – yeah, but for a good reason. I wanted to ask you something." He put his hands in his jacket pockets and plastered a smile on his face, easily recovering from her unexpected question.

"Okay…" she said with a slow nod of her head. Klaus watched as she bit her bottom lip lightly. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about you." He said straight away and she scoffed. It only made the smile on his face grow.

"Just so we're clear," she started as she looked up at him through her long lashes, "I'm too smart to be seduced by you."

"Well that's why I like you." He answered her confidently. "And that's why I'm here. I wanted to ask you if you would like to accompany me on a date, Caroline Forbes."

Caroline blinked several times, shock washing over her. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"It can be big or small, whatever you like. Movies, dinner, lunch, or even just for a coffee if that's what you want." He offered and she still looked stunned. "I would just like to spend some time with you outside of homework meetings."

"Why?" she asked, finally able to manage words.

"I fancy you." He answered and her eyes went wide. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes." Caroline replied. She was never the first choice. Elena always was, and for this guy to actually have feelings for her and not Elena was something new for her.

"Why not? You're beautiful, strong, full of light. I enjoy you." He confessed and gave her a charming smile that made her go weak at the knees. _Compose yourself Caroline!_ How could she say no to that confession? How could she say no to that smile and those amazing eyes and dimples and drool-worthy accent and –

"Okay." She said and felt her cheeks turn bright red. "Yeah sure. I don't see why not."

Klaus smiled victoriously. That was easier than he thought. He thought she was going to make it difficult to just leave campus, but she had made it so much easier than he had anticipated.

"I shall come pick you up at six o'clock, love. Wear something nice." He leaned in and pressed a light kiss to her cheek, causing her to blush even more. He gave her one last pleased smile before walking down the corridor and out of sight, leaving Caroline to process everything that just happened.

"I just got asked out by the hottest guy at Whitmore College." She said in utter disbelief to herself. "I just got a date with Klaus Mikaelson."

* * *

"Elena! _Elena!_ _Eleeennnnaaaaaaa!"_

Caroline barged through the door of her dorm room that she shared with Elena and slammed it shut behind her, pressing her back up against it to keep anyone else from entering. Elena looked up from her English textbooks and furrowed her brows in confusion at her friend.

"What's wrong, Care?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Then what are you –"

"Klaus just asked me out."

Elena dropped her textbook as fast as her jaw had dropped at the news. "What?! Oh my God, Care!" she said and jumped off of her bed. "What did you say? Please tell me you said yes. Did you say yes? You better have said yes. You totally said yes!"

"I said yes!" Caroline squeal and Elena grabbed her by the shoulders and they both started bouncing up and down, squealing like typical teenage girls.

"When is your date?" Elena asked, seriousness falling over her once more. "We need to make sure you look hot."

"Tonight. He's coming to get me at six."

"Great. I'm organising your wardrobe and I'll do your hair and makeup."

"I can do it myself, Elena." Caroline told her, but Elena held her hand up, not having any of what Caroline had to say.

"No. Do not reject my offer to help. I'm going to make you look so hot, he is going to salivate like a dog with a steak."

Caroline frowned at the image that her words caused. All she could picture now was the guy literally drooling over her. "I don't think I like the sound of that."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Don't be so literal. In other words, he is not going to be able to take his eyes off of you, he's going to want you that bad."

Caroline smiled, but then it disappeared, remembering why she didn't want to give herself over to any guy anytime soon. She didn't want to deal with another guy like Damon. He had caused her to develop mistrust in men, and she didn't know if she could go through that again.

"Maybe I shouldn't go. Maybe I should cancel. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll cancel."

Elena's jaw dropped. "What?!" her friend screeched. "No! You are going on this date with Klaus freaking Mikaelson and you are going to enjoy it, whether you like it or not!"

Caroline pulled her phone out of her pocket and Elena snatched it away from her.

"Hey, give it back!"

"What are you doing?" Elena said before bolting for the bathroom and locking herself in there when Caroline tried to take her phone back. Elena looked at the screen and grinned. "You've got his number? Since when? If you exchanged numbers, then that's the first sign that you're into each other, Care."

"Elena Gilbert, I swear to God, if you don't come out of there and give me my phone back, I will kill you!"

Caroline could hear Elena laugh through the door. "You are going to go on that date tonight and you are going to come back and give me all the juicy gossip."

"But Elena," Caroline whined, "you know why I don't date anymore."

"Nope. No excuses. You can't be a hermit forever." Elena said and Caroline sighed. "You really should start taking your own advice. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Sex. You're the one that told me that back in high school. Now go on your date or else I will drag you there myself and tie you to him."

Caroline pressed her lips into a thin line. She didn't like the idea of being humiliated like that. She released a resigned sigh and leaned her forehead against the bathroom door. "Fine. I won't cancel. I'll go."

Although the thought about repeating what happened with Damon kept nagging at her, she was glad that her friend convinced her to still go ahead with it, because whether she liked it or not, she knew she wanted to go out with this guy.

* * *

Several hours later, Caroline became a model for Elena, Elena having completely taken over Caroline's wardrobe and makeup bags. Elena led her friend over to the chair at her desk and gently pushed her into it before rummaging through the makeup.

"Okay, I think smoky eyes and bright red lips will make you look like a total knock out tonight. It will go nice with the dress."

"What dress are you going to make me wear?" Caroline asked. "I don't want anything too showy. I don't want to look desperate, you know?"

"You won't." Elena reassured her and put a hand under Caroline's chin, making her tilt her head up so she could look at her properly. "You're going to look hot. Now stop talking. I need to do your makeup properly."

Caroline released a sigh and let Elena go about doing her makeup for her.

After another two hours, Elena had completed her work and was pleased with the final result. She clapped her hands together excitedly then twirled her finger around at Caroline.

"Spin around for me. I need to be 100 percent sure."

Caroline twirled for her friend and Elena beamed. "You look perfect, Care. He's not going to know what hit him."

"You know, you're making such a big deal out of something that is really small. You do realise that Elena, don't you?"

Elena opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on their dorm room door. The two girls turned their gaze towards the door and Caroline glared at Elena when she opened her mouth to say something. Caroline pointed a finger threateningly at her friend who grinned widely, and was thankful when she stayed silent.

"Caroline, it's me." They heard the familiar voice say from the other side of the door. Caroline turned to see Elena mouthing the words over-dramatically, teasing her.

"Give me a second! I'm coming!" Caroline called out as she grabbed Elena by the wrist and dragged her into the bathroom. "Please don't make a big deal about this, okay? It's one casual date."

"Sure, sure." Elena said, the grin still on her face.

Caroline glared at her before turning on her heels. "I'll talk to you later."

Caroline quickly grabbed her clutch before answering the door to find a grinning Klaus standing on the other side. He wore jeans with a dark shirt and a leather jacket, having that semi-formal yet bad boy look about him. Caroline silently appreciated his appearance but stopped when she noticed his smile disappear and his jaw drop.

Klaus knew Caroline was a gorgeous girl, but he honestly hadn't expected to pick her up dressed the way she was. Her blonde hair was curled neatly and cascaded over her shoulders, framing her bright blue eyes that stood out even more from the outline of her makeup. She was dressed in a short black dress that flowed to her mid-thigh and hugged her waist nicely. It had a low V-neck, showing plenty of cleavage and made it hard for Klaus to bring his eyes back up to her. Her heels were a bright red and matched the colour of the lipstick she wore on her soft lips.

"Caroline, you look absolutely ravishing in that dress."

Caroline smiled, knowing that Elena had achieved her goal in making Klaus speechless. "Thank you." She said sweetly and looked him over once more. "You're not too bad yourself."

Klaus smirked and raised a brow at her in question. "Did I just receive a compliment from Caroline Forbes?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her. "Don't expect any other compliments after that one. Now let's go before Elena attacks us both."

* * *

They had only just arrived at their destination and Caroline already had to keep herself from swooning before they even got there. As it turned out, Klaus didn't just wear a leather jacket like a bad boy, he owned and rode a motorbike like one too. Though the little logical part of her mind scolded her and warned her to not get on the back of that motorbike, she climbed on after him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Being so close to him made her both nervous and giddy at the same time, but now she found herself looking for any excuse to have some kind of physical contact with him.

He ended up taking her to a restaurant that doubled as a bar; the bar on one side of the building and the restaurant on the other. The bar had live music playing and Caroline was glad that Elena had made her dress up properly for the occasion. Klaus had said to her to wear something nice, but she didn't think that she had to dress up nice enough for a restaurant bar. She silently thanked Elena for taking over her wardrobe tonight.

A waitress came over to welcome them and Caroline gave the girl a warm smile. As Klaus discussed the table bookings with her, Caroline looked around the bar section of the building and her eyes landed on someone familiar. Caroline turned to Klaus and rested a hand on his arm. "I'll be right back. I'm just going to go say hi to someone." He gave her a nod and she quickly made her way over to the bar.

"Matt!" she said happily and smiled in his direction when he saw her.

"Hey Care. What are you doing here?" Matt put the glasses that he was cleaning down and made his way around the bar to hug her. She returned the hug then took a step back.

"Oh, I'm here on a date." She said and felt her cheeks warm up at the thought of Klaus.

"Really?" Matt said and started looking around the room. "Which one is he?"

Caroline rolled her eyes at her friend – and old high school sweetheart – and pointed over at her date. "That's him there. The tall one in the leather jacket."

"You're on a date with Klaus Mikaelson?"

Caroline's brows shot up. "How do you know him?"

"Oh, he and his brother Kol come here every now and then. And sometimes they're even here with Stefan and Damon and that Enzo guy from Whitmore, too."

Caroline's brain was on overload. "Wait." She said and pressed a finger to her temple. "He knows Damon and Stefan?"

Matt walked back behind the bar as he continued to speak with her. "Well yeah, by the looks of it. Apparently they're good mates, Klaus and Stefan. And Damon and Enzo have some kind of bromance, too. Kol just hangs around to stir up trouble, and I just put up with them at my bar because I'm being paid."

"Oh, okay." Caroline said and turned around to look back and see if Klaus was done with the waitress. "Look, I've got to go, but I'll speak to you soon, Matt."

Caroline gave him a warm smile before heading back to where Klaus waited for her. She slipped her arm through his and he led her over to their table. She smiled shyly when he pulled her seat out for her before going around to his and sitting down.

"Look at you laying on the charm." She said then mentally scolded herself for saying it out loud. Her embarrassment disappeared when he chuckled light-heartedly at her comment.

"I do try, love."

"Good evening." A waiter said as they stopped by their table. "Could I interest either of you in our wine list this evening?"

Caroline looked from the waiter to Klaus, unsure whether she wanted to order something or not, but her decision was made for her when he ordered her a drink anyway.

""I'll have a scotch and the lady here with have your finest white wine."

"Of course." The waiter said with a nod. "I will have those brought out for you straight away."

Once the waiter left, Caroline gave him a calculating look. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"No. I just want to treat you to a proper glass of wine, a nice dinner and the pleasure of my company."

"Real smooth talker, you are." She said with a light laugh. She twisted her fork around on the table. "I didn't know you knew Matt." She said and looked back up at him.

"Yeah," Klaus said and folded his arms on the table as he looked over Caroline's shoulder at Matt who was pouring their drinks behind the bar, "My brother and I come here often to meet up with some friends of ours and have a few drinks. He's usually working when we're here." He said then turned back to Caroline. "How do you know Matt?"

"I went to school with him at Mystic Falls High."

"I have a rather close friend who attended that school. Stefan Salvatore."

Caroline smiled, knowing about it already since Matt told her. "What a coincidence. I went to school with him too and he's one of my best friends."

"I thought Elena was your best friend?" Klaus said with a teasing smirk.

"Well a girl can have more than one best friend." She said matter-of-factly. "I just don't particularly like his brother Damon."

"Speaking of the devil." Klaus said as he looked over Caroline's shoulder. She too turned around to see what he was looking at, and sure enough, it was the Salvatore brothers, Enzo and some guy Caroline didn't recognise, though she could somehow see a similarity in him to Klaus. Maybe this was his brother Kol?

Stefan spotted them and Caroline waved at him, Stefan returning the wave with a smile attached. As much as Caroline wanted to see her friend, a wave of jealousy washed over her as she realised that if all the boys were here, then she wouldn't be able to have Klaus all to herself. She scowled at the sight of Damon who gave her a smug smirk in return and only made her scoff and roll her eyes. The only thing keeping her from slaughtering Damon was Elena's plea for Caroline to not hurt her boyfriend. Caroline liked to think she had every right to rip out his throat since he was her ex, but she would rather keep her friendship with Elena than lose it over someone like Damon Salvatore. Caroline's scowl deepened when Damon approached them.

"Well hey there, Blondie. What are you doing out and about?" he said and looked between her and Klaus. "And what are you doing with him?"

""In case you really don't have enough brain cells to realise, I'm on a date, so go away." She said bluntly, but it didn't stop him from grinning at Klaus. Klaus got up from his chair and the two guys greeted each other enthusiastically. Caroline watched on in disbelief, only to be interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. She turned her attention to the person standing behind her.

"Hello gorgeous."

Caroline stood up from her chair to face Enzo. She didn't have a problem with the guy, but the entire groups timing was ridiculous. Couldn't they just go away and leave her be on her date?

"Hi Enzo." She said, trying to sound friendly.

"I see we've gate crashed your night. I apologise. Damon tends to make sure he gets something when he wants it."

Caroline scoffed. "Believe me, I know." She said, then her attention was caught by the bright, kind smile of her friend Stefan. "Stefan!" she said happily and threw her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. "I haven't seen you in ages. I missed you." She said before letting him go.

"I've missed you too, Caroline." He pinched her cheek and she laughed. The relationship she had with Stefan was the closest thing to having an older brother that she would ever get. He was like a brother to her, and she was like a sister to him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just came by to have a few drinks with the boys." Stefan said then nodded towards Klaus. "I see you've caught Klaus' attention."

"I'm still trying to decide if that's a good thing or not." Caroline said, which only made Stefan laugh.

"He may not seem like it, but deep down he is a good guy. He just doesn't show it. He needs someone to bring it out."

"I believe that is me you're talking about mate. Not my brother."

Caroline turned her attention to the last guy, the one she was right to suspect as Klaus' brother. "You must be Kol." She guessed. He smirked and took her hand in his to place a kiss on top of it.

"Right you are, darling. Kol Mikaelson. The much more attractive one of the Mikaelson brothers." Kol said, introducing himself. Caroline scoffed and felt someone behind her.

"Don't you think you ought to leave now, Kol?" she heard Klaus say from behind her, then felt a hand around her waist and Klaus pulling her closer to him. It almost felt like he was being protective of her. "You've interrupted a rather nice evening between myself and Caroline."

Kol grinned at her. "Ah, so that's the beauty's name. Well good evening Caroline."

Caroline looked up at the ceiling with her lips pressed together and stayed quiet. She wanted no part in whatever Kol was trying to start up with his brother. Stefan patted Kol on the shoulder before pushing him away with him.

"Come on buddy. Let's leave them to it."

"Until I see you next sweet Caroline!" Kol called out as the guys lead him away and around the corner. Damon gave her one final look before he and Enzo followed suit.

"I apologise about him, love. I would say he's usually not like that, but that would be a lie." Klaus said but Caroline was more focussed on the fact that his arm was still around her and that he still had her pressed up against his side. She felt her cheeks go red from embarrassment, but another part of her couldn't help but feel comfortable being this close to him.

"It's okay." She said softly and he looked down at her momentarily before letting go of her. Caroline instantly felt herself shiver from the cold as soon as he let her go, and she just wanted to be wrapped up in his protective hold again. _No_, she told herself. _Don't become reliant on men!_

* * *

Apart from the minor interruption by Damon, Enzo, Stefan and Kol, Caroline had surprisingly enjoyed her night out with Klaus. He bought her dinner and her wine, they talked, he made her laugh, they danced to the live music playing. Caroline felt like she was being treated like a princess. Caroline told herself it was one night and that she could let her guard down for a few hours and enjoy herself, and that's exactly what she did. When it came to riding his motorbike back to Whitmore, she was more than keen for the closeness; wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder.

Once they arrived back at Whitmore, he insisted he walk her back to her room, and Caroline felt like she couldn't say no after the nice evening they'd had together. When they reached her door, she stopped and turned to face him, holding her clutch in her hands in front of her.

"Thanks for tonight. I had a lot of fun." She said honestly. She wasn't going to deny it anymore; she really liked this guy, and she would kill to go on another date with him like tonight, but the memory of how it felt to be hurt by Damon constantly nagged at the back of her mind.

"As did I." he said and his accented voice distracted her from her thoughts. He had that smirk on his face that he always had on display whenever she was around. "I would love to see you again, sweetheart."

Caroline swallowed, trying to keep herself composed from him calling her sweetheart and her own mental battle over her issues with men because of Damon. "Maybe you will." She said and offered him a smile. She didn't say yes, but she didn't say no either. _A little mystery never hurt anyone. Surely he would like that in a girl…_

They stood there for a long moment, watching each other quietly, and Caroline couldn't help but let her eyes look between his blue ones and his lips. She swallowed nervously as she looked at him through her thick lashes, and couldn't help but feel like she was part of a movie where the guy drops the girl off at home and then there is the first kiss on her front porch and they both feel fireworks and sparks. She could imagine the love songs playing in the background of the scenes going on in her mind, and she bit into her bottom lip nervously. She felt her heart skip a beat when he took a step closer to her and her eyes grew wide. _Is he going to kiss me?! Oh God, he _is_ going to kiss me! Oh shit, what do I do?! _Caroline fought a mental battle with herself over whether she should kiss him back or not, but the thoughts soon faded away when she noticed he had taken a step back and cleared his throat. He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up before looking back at her.

"I'll see you soon Caroline." He said with a tone of voice that told her he was confident that they would go out on a second date, and she nodded her head and smiled a little, feeling more or less relieved that she didn't have to work out her conflicted feelings straight away.

However, feeling like she couldn't let him go without some kind of proper thank you for the wonderful night she had with him, she reached up and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thanks again." She said sweetly and opened her door. "See you soon."

The last thing she saw of him was the smile that took over his handsome face before she closed her door gently behind her.

* * *

**So did you like their cute little date? Did you like that Stefan, Damon, Kol and Matty Blue Blue finally made an appearance? Let me know by leaving a review in the little review box under this message!**

**Celeste xoxo**


	5. Elena

**Hello again Klaroliners! I won't do a summary of this chapter, but I will answer a few fan questions. **

**A few of you were wondering what Damon did to Caroline to make her mistrust men. Well, lucky for you, you will find out in this chapter! **

**A few more of you were also asking if Klaus is going to make an appearance at the Whitmore College Ball. I will not answer that because that would be a spoiler and no one likes spoilers! You'll just have to wait and see!**

**As for the final question that I'm sure has you all curious and that some of you have asked: What is the issue that arises that leaves Caroline to either fight her own battles or confide in Klaus? Well, I'm not going to say because you are going to find out in this chapter!**

**This chapter is where things start to unfold as the first 4 chapters were purely for fluff, character and setting development etc.**

**So without further ado, there is the next chapter!**

**Chapter 5: _Elena_**

* * *

_We're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way_  
_ It's miserable and magical._  
_ Oh, yeah_  
_ Tonight's the night when we forget about the heartbreaks_  
_ It's time_

_- 22, Taylor Swift_

* * *

As soon as Caroline shut the door behind her, she felt a slim body slam into her. Caroline released a small squeak at the impact and spun around to find Elena grinning at her. Caroline put a finger to her lips to tell her to be quiet, Caroline not wanting Elena to start firing questions at her while there was a possibility that Klaus was still in earshot.

Caroline made her way over to her bed and pulled her heels off before placing them neatly in the shoebox they belonged in. She took out her earrings and put them in her jewellery box on her desk next to her makeup, then turned to Elena.

"Okay, now you can go all rapid fire with your questions."

Elena started throwing questions her way, Caroline wondering if that's what she looked like when she blurted things out without a filter.

"How was it? Where did he take you? What happened? Did he kiss you? Oh my God, you two totally kissed. Spill the beans! Does Bonnie know? Does he have a nice car? Did you kiss? Tell me what happened! Did you two kiss?!"

"One question at a time, Elena!" Caroline said and pressed her fingers to her temples.

Elena sat down on her bed, though Caroline could see how eager she was to know seeing as Elena was bouncing up and down on the mattress. Caroline sat on her own bed and faced her friend, folding her legs up under her.

"He took me out to dinner at this restaurant that doubles as a bar called The Grand. Matt works there now, by the way."

"_Oooh_. Was it as grand as it sounds?" she teased and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it was. It was really nice. We had dinner and some wine. There was a live band playing, so we danced a bit and –"

"_Ooooooooh_," Elena teased, cooing at Caroline, "Is he a good dancer?"

"Yes, now let me finish." Caroline said, waiting for Elena to finish in case she had anything else to say before she continued. "Anyway. Then after that, we came back to Whitmore and he walked me back here."

"And did he kiss you?" Elena asked with large grin on her face. Caroline shook her head and Elena's grin dropped. "Well that's no fun."

"Hey, he's just being respectful." Caroline said defensively. "And besides, you want to know the fun part?" she said and Elena nodded eagerly. "He has a motorbike and we rode it to the restaurant and back. It's so much fun Elena. It's like I went out on a date with the most perfect guy on the planet. He's just the right mix of total sweetheart and total bad boy."

"So what happens next? Are you two going on another date?"

"I don't know yet, but he seemed keen. I am too, but, you know…" Caroline trailed off and shrugged her shoulders. Elena tilted her head to the side and gave Caroline a '_seriously?'_ look.

"Please don't tell me you are going to turn down a second date with someone you clearly have the hots for just because of Damon."

"Um, duh." Caroline said as if it was obvious.

Elena pointed a finger accusingly at her. "Don't you dare turn down a second date with this guy. He is hot, is a total sweetheart, treats you like a damn princess and you are going to reject him because of your ex-boyfriend?"

Caroline bowed her head and looked down at her lap where she was twiddling her thumbs. Elena kept going.

"Seriously Care. I understand that Damon was a dick to you, and I know that sounds weird coming from me since I'm dating him, but you can't let that stop you from going after someone who is obviously good for you. You've turned this into a big battle within yourself that's not necessary. Just go for it."

"But what if it's all just a façade like Damon? He pretended to actually be interested in me because he just wanted sex and now look at how that's affected me. I don't want to have to go through all of that again."

Caroline remembered their breakup vividly. She had overheard Damon talking on the phone to one of his mates, saying how he had no intention of staying with Caroline any longer because he had gotten bored of her and was just in it for the sex. He thought she was an easy target, and it had proven so. Caroline had felt heartbroken. After that, she had lost all faith in men, especially those such as Damon Salvatore, and even though he had improved his shocking behaviour and developed more morals since then, she still didn't like him, even though he tried to be civil with her.

"You won't." Elena said confidently and went over to sit in front of Caroline on her bed. She took Caroline's hands in hers and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "I don't think Klaus would have treated you like royalty if he wasn't genuinely interested in you, Care. He wouldn't have gone through all that effort to please you. And like you said, he's a respectful guy. If he just wanted you for sex, he would have taken you back to his dorm and you would be in his bed right now. You even said that you guys didn't even kiss tonight. So if that's not a big enough sign that he has good intentions, then I don't know what is."

Caroline swallowed to wet her dry throat. "He did seem like he was considering kissing me at the door, but he didn't." Caroline said softly, then took a deep breath. "You're right. I've let Damon the Demon hold me back for too long. I can't let a big mistake from my past keep me from being happy."

"Exactly!" Elena said, her mood perking up with a bright smile, then wiggled her brows at Caroline. "Now, I think we should call Bonnie and tell her the details."

* * *

The next day came around and so did their art class. Caroline had struggled yet again with the weekly sketch this week and had no clue what she was going to draw. She couldn't possibly think of anything that represented 'loneliness' that she could sketch and submit. Her art skills were severely limited, so it made it even harder to find something worth her time and effort to put on paper. After her date with Klaus, she had sat down and tried to come up with something for her art class, but she spent a good hour just sitting there chewing on her pencil. Eventually she had just given up and decided to do a charcoal sketch with a silhouette of a single person standing in the middle of an abandoned road. It sounded creative, but once again, her art didn't have the personal meaning that Klaus said art critics appreciated.

Elena and Caroline sat in their seats at their usual desks in the art room and put their books down. Caroline looked up to find Klaus making his way to his seat next to her and he gave her a lazy smile. Caroline felt her cheeks go red as she sent him one back, trying to keep herself from chewing on her pencil nervously – old habits die hard.

"Hey Klaus." She said dreamily, her shy smile turning into a goofy grin. _Oh God, help me. His eyes…_

"Good morning sweetheart." He replied and Caroline had to keep herself from swooning. After her talk with Elena last night, she was determined to not let anything get in her way anymore, though she knew that one of those obstacles was herself.

She snapped out of her dreamy state when she felt Elena kick her under the desk. "So how are you?"

"I am rather well, love. Thank you for asking. And how are you?"

"Oh I'm great." She said and absent-mindedly started chewing on her pencil. "I'm just great."

Klaus laughed under his breath at her and Caroline felt Elena kick her again, snapping her out of her daydream. She felt herself go even redder, making her already noticeable blush stand out even more. She looked down at her desk embarrassed. _Why can't I have a filter when I talk?_

Their art tutor Lexi appeared through the door just in time to keep Caroline from humiliating herself further. Lexi stood out the front of the art room and leaned back against her table.

"Good morning guys. I hope you all had a great first week at Whitmore."

Everybody gave nods of confirmation of a good first week and mumbled a few _yes_'s here and there. Lexi nodded at them all then clapped her hands together.

"Great. Now I'll be going around and collecting your artwork for this week and will give you back the first sketches you submitted last week."

Lexi picked up a pile of papers and started passing them around the room to the students, collecting their current work as she went along. She reached Klaus and Caroline noticed him smile at his artwork, assuming that he got an exceptional grade. Once Lexi reached Caroline, she braced herself, knowing her idea wasn't that great, and took her artwork from the tutor. She looked down at the small grade paper attached to it in her hands and felt her face fall. _No. Surely it wasn't that bad. Surely not._

She received a fail.

Caroline felt her world come crashing down. Never had she failed anything before. She always got exceptional grades. Caroline wanted to speak with Lexi and ask her why she received such a horrible mark, but even Caroline knew why. It wasn't that she got the bad grade for her lack of sketching skills –the whole point of the class was to develop those skills – it was that she had a lack of inspiration and couldn't come up with a good and meaningful idea. Klaus sure knew what he was doing.

"Care? Care?" Elena called and Caroline brought her attention to her friend finally. "Are you alright?"

"I got a fail." She choked out. "I've never failed anything before. Oh my God, Elena. What do I do? What am I supposed to do?! I can't fail! I don't fail! I'm not supposed to fail. It's not what I do!"

"Calm down." Elena said gently. "The weekly sketches are only worth two percent of our overall grade. It's only two percent."

"But what about all the other weekly sketches I need to do? I don't want to fail them too!"

"You won't." Elena reassured her. "I promise."

* * *

Still feeling distraught by the disgusting grade, Caroline gathered up her things after the seminar had finished and tried to keep herself from having a meltdown. She was waiting for Elena to collect her things when she felt a strong hand on her arm. She turned around to face the person the hand belonged to and looked up through her thick lashes at Klaus.

"Are you alright, love?" he asked and Caroline opened her mouth to answer him, only to first turn to look at Elena who was more than willing to take a few steps back.

"I'm going to drop my stuff off in our room, then go visit Damon. I'll see you later, Care."

Caroline gave Elena a small wave before her friend left, then turned back to Klaus. "I would be lying if I said I was alright, so no, I'm not." She said glumly and looked down at her feet.

Klaus frowned, not liking seeing the beautiful blonde so upset and distraught by her own disappointment. He wanted to comfort her, and what better way to do that than to offer her help? He was rather artistic after all.

"I can help you, Caroline, if you want. I've studied and done my fair share of art in my time and I would be more than happy to help you." He said sincerely which made Caroline lift her gaze back up to his and earned him a smile from her.

"Thanks, I appreciate it, but this is something I have to do myself." She replied, and he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed by the fact that he didn't have another excuse to see her by himself again. "I know what I need to do now, I just need to learn how to do it."

Klaus nodded, understanding where she was coming from. He was the kind of guy that liked to do things himself, in his own way and in his own time. He liked having that freedom and she obviously did too.

"I understand, but if you ever change your mind, the offer is still there for you. Anything to help you out, sweetheart."

She gave him a grateful smile. "I know. Thank you."

* * *

Caroline sat in the common room of her dormitory building where students usually socialised and went through photographs she recently printed out that she had taken with her Canon camera. Her photo album laid open on the table she sat at as she stuck the photos in and wrote little notes and scribbles around the pictures on the black pages with a silver pen. This book was more than just a photo album to her though. It had everything in it that meant something to her. Photographs of her family and friends, images of places she wanted to go and maps stuck in with red crosses on them pointing out the destinations, little messages she had written to herself, motivational quotes, memories that were significant to her. Absolutely everything of importance in her life. It was the one thing she had brought with her from home that she kept private and close to her heart.

"Hello gorgeous."

Caroline slammed the book shut and pulled it protectively towards her body as Enzo sat down opposite her. She brushed a loose curl behind her ear as she recovered from her shock.

"You scared the Hell out of me. Don't do that again." She scolded him but he just smirked.

"Sorry Caroline. I just saw you here by yourself and thought I would do you the honour of giving you my company."

"I don't need company. I'm busy." She said disinterested, but it still didn't wipe the smirk off his face.

"See, I like that about you. You aren't afraid to be blunt. Some people find it confronting, but I think it's very empowering of you."

As much as he annoyed her occasionally, Enzo wasn't bad company. She considered Enzo decent enough to be her friend, but not as close as she was with Elena or Bonnie, but close enough.

He pointed at her book. "What's that you've got there?"

"Something personal that only my eyes may see, so don't even bothering asking what's inside."

"Fair enough." He said and shrugged his shoulders. He stayed silent for a long moment before speaking up again. "How was your night with my dear friend Klaus?"

Caroline raised a brow at him and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I don't see why you would care, but if you really want to know, it was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it." She said with a confident nod of her head before hugging the book to her chest.

"And I thoroughly enjoyed it too, sweetheart."

Both Caroline and Enzo turned their heads in the direction of the voice to see Klaus taking a seat at the table also. Caroline hugged the book even closer to herself now.

"I seem to be attracting all the guys today." Caroline noted which only made both Klaus and Enzo grin.

"I don't see why you wouldn't, love. You are a rather attractive young woman."

Once again, Klaus had managed to make her face turn red as a tomato. She opened her mouth to speak, but her phone stopped her from blabbering out something possibly embarrassing when it started to ring. She pulled it out of her bag and noticed the caller ID before answering it and holding it to her ear.

"Stefan. Hey, what's up?" she asked and instantly noticed the worried tone to his voice.

"Caroline, finally. I've been calling everyone and letting them know –"

"Stefan what's going on? Calm down."

Caroline looked over at Klaus and Enzo confused, and they looked like they were feeling the same. All three of them furrowed their brows.

"It's Elena."

Caroline listened to Stefan's voice in disbelief, the shocking news stunning her silent. Her face paled and her expression set into a look of worry. Klaus and Enzo shared a confused looked before Klaus reached over and squeezed her arm lightly.

"Caroline, what is it?" he asked as she mumbled a goodbye to Stefan and put the phone down. "What is it?" he asked again when she didn't answer the first time.

"It's Elena." She started, her eyes lifting from the table to meet his. Her voice was weak. "She's been in a car accident."

* * *

**What did you think about the news at the end? Were you surprised? What did you think about finally knowing what Damon did to hurt Caroline and cause her to not trust people so easily? She just doesn't want to be heartbroken again. I love hearing from you guys, so let me know what you thought in reviews!**

**Celeste xoxo**


	6. The Artist

**Hello again my lovelies! I am updating with a new chapter at 2am yet again! I swear I am nocturnal. Anyway, this chapter has a little visit to Elena in the hospital and a cute but slightly sad Klaroline scene. You'll see why.**

**P.S. Rucky, if you're reading this, your last review for chapter 5 made me laugh ahahahaha! It made my day because I literally think the exact same thing every single time I watch an episode of TVD!**

**Chapter 6: The Artist**

* * *

_Why am I so emotional?_  
_ No, it's not a good look, gain some self-control._  
_ And deep down I know this never works,_  
_ But you can lay with me so it doesn't hurt._

_- Stay With Me, Sam Smith_

* * *

Saturday finally came around and Caroline made sure she woke up first thing in the morning to head down to the hospital just as visiting hours began. After finding out yesterday afternoon about Elena's accident, she had gone straight to the hospital to see Elena, though the nurses wouldn't let her see her. She had called Bonnie when she thought it was an appropriate time (stupid time zones) and filled her in on what had happened. She told Bonnie not to worry too much, and as much as she was trying to convince Bonnie, she was trying to convince herself. Both Klaus and Enzo had kept her company that afternoon, not wanting to leave her alone when she was in shock. Eventually Enzo had left – Caroline hadn't expected either of them to stay too long anyway considering each of them had their own lives – but Klaus had stayed. As embarrassing as it was, she was glad he hadn't left, especially when she snapped out of her shock and turned into an emotional mess.

"_Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my G–"_

"_Caroline, calm down."_

_She shook her head vigorously and hugged herself tightly, her fingers digging into her sides as she hyperventilated. "No, no, no, no, no, no –" _

"_Caroline," Klaus grabbed onto her arms and made her look at him before running his hands soothingly up and down her arms, "Caroline, just calm down. She's alive and the doctors are treating her." His voice was soft and calmed her, like how warm milk would relax a child before going to sleep. Her bottom lip quivered as she tried to keep herself from crying. Klaus' eyes softened and he frowned, hating seeing Caroline in such a state as this. "Caroline, don't cry. Please." He pleaded but she still let a tear escape her sad blue eyes and run down her cheek. Without a second though, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms tightly around her, rubbing her back gently to calm her and stop her from trembling. _

"_I should have done something." She said quietly, her voice muffled by her pressing her face into his shoulder._

"_There was nothing you could have done to stop it from happening, sweetheart. She was by herself. No one knew this was going to happen."_

"_Then why do I feel so bad?"_

"_Because she's your friend and you care about her, but there's no need to feel bad for something you had no part in, Caroline. It's life."_

_She stayed quiet for a long time, and Klaus wasn't sure whether to speak up to see if she was feeling better or not. After a few more minutes, she spoke._

"_Why do bad things always happen to good people?"_

_That was one thing he had wanted to know ever since his youngest brother Henrik had passed away. Henrik had only just made it to ten years old before he was cruelly taken from this world all too soon. He had done nothing wrong. He hadn't deserved it. Then why had he been taken away from them? Klaus didn't know, but if there really was a more high and mighty force upstairs in that damn sky in those damn clouds, Klaus sure wasn't pleased with it not one bit._

Caroline found a park in the parking lot and quickly made her way inside the hospital. She swiftly weaved around the bustle of people and found the elevators, looking at the board that explained what unit was on each floor. She found the ward Elena was in on level three and punched the _up_ button on the elevator. Once the elevator dinged open, she stepped in and pushed the 3 button. After a few seconds, she was out of the elevator and rushing towards Elena's ward.

Caroline practically slammed her body into the reception desk as she threw her words at the nurse behind the desk like rapid fire.

"I'm here to see Elena. Is she in this ward still? Elena. Her name is Elena Gilbert. Can I see her now? Where is she?"

"She is allowed visitors now, so you can see –"

"Which room?" Caroline cut her off.

"Room twenty-eight. It's just down –"

"That's all. Thank you!"

Caroline sprinted off before the nurse could finish, deciding that she could sufficiently find the room by herself. Once she found the right room, she stopped and stood in front of the door for a moment, taking a deep breath to prepare herself for what she might see before turning the handle and stepping inside.

She silently closed the door behind her as she looked at her friend. Elena lay in the hospital bed with her eyes closed, asleep. At least Caroline was trying to convince herself that Elena had just wanted to sleep in longer than usual. When Stefan had called again later last night, he said that apparently Elena hadn't woken up yet. Caroline didn't want to believe it, so she kept convincing herself otherwise.

Caroline walked over to Elena's side and stood by the bed, looking down sadly at her friend. She had IV's in her arms that were attached to a bag full of clear liquid (Caroline didn't know what it was. She just guessed it was water) which hung from a transportable pole with wheels on it. She was dressed in a hospital gown and her hair had been neatly tied back. Caroline was sure that was the work of the nurses, considering Elena hardly ever wore her hair up.

Caroline finally allowed herself to sit down in the chair next to the bed where her friend lay unconscious and took Elena's hand in her own, squeezing it gently. Caroline sighed. She hated seeing Elena like this. She wanted to be able to talk to her friend, share a laugh or two, she would even prefer to do be humiliated in front of the entire of Whitmore College – including in front of Klaus – than see someone she cared about in a state like this.

Caroline didn't know what to do with herself while she sat there. A thought occurred to her, and although it sounded stupid, surely she wasn't the only one who had done this before. She started talking to her unconscious friend.

"Hi Elena. It's me… Caroline." Okay. Now she felt stupid. "I came to see how you are going but you were asleep…" _No shit, Sherlock_, she thought to herself, practically rolling her eyes at herself. "Obviously you're asleep or else I wouldn't be talking to myself. Anyway, I… I wanted to see you. It's not the same in our dorm without my roommate. You're supposed to be sleeping in your bed back at Whitmore in our dorm, not in a hospital bed. It's weird without you there, Elena. I mean, I've got Enzo and Klaus there too, but it's not the same as you. Like, yeah sure Enzo is a friend, but you're my closest friend. And I get that I'm closer with Klaus than what I am with Enzo, but that's an entirely different thing too, because, well, you know. I like Enzo, but I_ like_ like Klaus. I guess that's a whole different thing compared to what you are to me as well, so I can't really compare these relationships properly because they don't fit into the same categories."

Caroline went quiet for a moment, imagining what Elena would have to say to that. She would probably tease her about admitting that she liked someone. Caroline rolled her eyes at her imaginary response for Elena.

"I'm such a loser." She mumbled to herself after realising what she had just done. A small smile crept onto her lips when she thought back to what she just said about liking Klaus. "You know, I forgot to tell you the other day that he told me he likes me too. I wish I told you that while you were awake… but yeah, he did, though he said it differently. You know how he speaks likes he is some gentleman from the twenties." She laughed lightly at her own joke. "He just came straight out and said 'I fancy you'. He's so old fashioned when he talks." She rolled her eyes then smiled. "But I like it. It's cute."

Caroline stayed by Elena's bed for another hour, talking about absolutely anything to her friend. Of course she was going to do the proper thing of a friend and fill her in on everything that had happened around Whitmore lately. Even though Elena was unconscious, Caroline felt like it was her responsibility to keep her updated.

* * *

Back at Whitmore, Caroline sat on the floor of her room, her sketchbook open and her art supplies splayed out everywhere all over the place. Charcoal, pencils, pens, brushes, watercolour paints, absolutely everything was covering the floor around her. It looked as if her inability to create art had finally reached it max and had exploded everywhere from the pressure. Maybe she should do a drawing that represented her struggle as an artist? Now_ that_ was deep and meaningful. A High Distinction worthy piece of art right there.

She picked up a 2B pencil and tried drawing without thinking, hoping that maybe her random scribbles would inspire her. She tried for about five minutes until she had become frustrated and viciously scribbled across the entire page, snapping the lead point of the pencil while taking her frustration out on the book.

She tossed the pencil, even though she knew it would break the lead inside it – rebellious move right there Caroline – and grabbed her camera before storming out of the room annoyed.

She made her way outside and breathed in the much needed fresh air. She made her way over to the garden in the courtyard and crouched down near the flowerbeds. She lifted her Canon to her face to look through the scope to focus the camera and snapped a few pictures of the flowers. A little further down was a butterfly on a white rose. She couldn't help but think back to how it reminded her of Klaus' first sketch he had done for art. The one he told her about that made her feel pathetic about hers. It was true though. Her drawing was so pathetic, it received a fail.

She lifted the camera and took the photo, then taking a few more from other angles. As she took a few more, she saw the sunlight had been blocked by a shadow caused by someone standing behind her. She lowered her camera and turned to face the person, a shy smile appearing on her face when she saw him. Despite the horrible news about Elena, Klaus still managed to make her smile with just his presence alone.

"Someone should really take a photo of you taking photos. I've never seen you so in your element before."

"Hey Klaus." She stood up from the ground and wiped the grass from her knees. She held her camera gingerly in her hands. She never trusted the strap to not break if she hung it around her neck. She knew it wouldn't considering it was brand new, but she wasn't willing to take the chance. She liked having control over what happened to her possessions. _Control freak_…

"How are you?" she asked and he put his hands in his jeans pockets.

"I'm alright. Just finished my weekly sketch for art, so I've got that out of the way. Other than that, I've just been around." He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, but to Caroline, it was. Caroline threw a mini tantrum in her head, seeing as she couldn't even think of not one single idea to draw. Give her a camera and she would be on fire with ideas. Give her a pencil… Nope. She had nothing.

"Oh…" she said and nodded her head slowly. Damn his artistic skills. Damn his good looks. Damn his sexy accent. Damn his everything… Actually, no. Don't damn any of him. He was a freaking God-send. He was like a fucking angel. The angel of perfection, that is. If there wasn't such thing, well, there was now. "Okay, that's great." She said, snapping back to attention. "I still haven't been able to think of anything to do mine on, hence why I'm out here with my camera." She said with a smile as she lifted the camera up to prove her point.

Klaus nodded. "I'm sure you'll think of something in time. You're a smart girl." Her smile broadened at his compliment. "Hey, um… how is your friend Elena doing?" he asked gently. Caroline's smile fell.

_Boom._ _Bye bye happiness! Hello depressed Caroline!_

"I saw her this morning. She still hasn't woken up." She said softly and Klaus chewed on his bottom lip guiltily.

"Sorry Caroline. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, no, it's fine. You're just asking. I shouldn't be so unapproachable about it."

"Not necessarily, love. You have every right to be upset. She is your friend."

Caroline swallowed and gave him a small nod. She looked down at her camera and fidgeted with it aimlessly. Klaus could tell she had hit a slump, and he quickly tried to pull her out of it. He pointed at her camera.

"Since you always carry that thing around with you, I think you should show me what you can do with it. Show me why you love photography so much."

She lifted her gaze back to his and looked up at him through her thick lashes. Slowly her smile began to reappear, Klaus somehow knowing how to make her feel better and doing it absolutely effortlessly.

"Okay. Come with me." She said and instinctively took his hand to lead him off to the one spot she always went when she wanted to escape on campus. After a moment, she realised what she had done, but it took her even longer to pull her hand away. The way she felt giddy when their hands touched, how she swore she felt tingles rush through her from her fingertips and spread through the rest of her body, but what gave her butterflies was when he accepted her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. She could almost swear he did it out of reflex with no thought behind it. She eventually pulled her hand out of his and let it fall back to her side, Caroline frowning to herself when she felt herself missing it already not even two seconds later. She was wary of Klaus walking beside her for the rest of the walk, sneaking a glance in his direction every now and then. Finally, they had made it to the tree by the lake that Caroline and Elena had discovered to be the perfect spot to relax, have lunch and do absolutely whatever.

"This is it." She said and gestured largely to the scenery around her. It truly was a perfect spot. She watched as Klaus looked around, taking in the view before him.

"This would be rather nice to paint." He said thoughtfully. Ignoring the fact that she still had to do her weekly sketch, Caroline was able to yet again admire the artist in him. She was yet to see his artwork, but she could tell that he was a true artist. Not because of the knowledge he had about it, but the pure passion she could see in him whenever he spoke about it.

Caroline found her mind traveling back to thoughts of holding his hand. Yeah, those were definitely artists' hands…

Caroline couldn't hide the smile from her face any longer. She turned around to face away from him and to the lake, lifting the camera up once again to take a photo. "It really is the perfect image, isn't it?"

"Definitely. I like the idea of having a cool palette to paint with, and this scenery would definitely give me the opportunity to use it."

"The blues and the greens?" she guessed and he nodded. She took a few more photos as they stood in a comfortable silence, before she felt that he was standing closer to her and she lowered her camera to turn and face him. She looked up at him with a quizzical look as she took in the unsure expression on his face. Was there something that he wasn't telling her? Had she done something wrong?

"What's up?" she asked, confusion written on her features. Caroline saw him swallow. Was he…? Was he nervous? Klaus Mikaelson… nervous?

"Caroline, you're a lovely girl, so I wouldn't be surprised if you already have plans, but I thought I would ask you anyway…" Caroline furrowed her brows. Where was he getting at with this? "… I'm not one much for these kinds of events, but I wanted to know if you would like to go to the College Ball with me."

Caroline felt like his question had just slammed into her body. She felt a mixture of emotions. The first one was those constant butterflies starting up in her stomach again and the feeling of her heart pounding madly as if it was going to rip out of her chest, kind of like a cartoon character. Her body was screaming out to her, going yes! Of course! But then she thought of Elena and how they were going to go together as girl dates; how they had gone out to buy their dresses together; how Elena had eventually warmed up to the ide and had become just as excited as Caroline. She would have asked Elena if it was alright that she bring a date instead, and then Elena could have invited Damon so it could be a double date, but that couldn't happen anymore. Not with Elena in hospital.

Caroline gave him a grateful smile, but it had a hint of sadness behind it. "I would love to go with you, Klaus," she swallowed nervously. She didn't want to crush him with this… "but I don't think I'm up for going to the Ball anymore. Not with Elena unconscious in hospital."

She felt like a hammer just hit her square in the chest when she saw his hopeful expression drop. She had done it. She had crushed him. She felt horrible now. He had just asked her out on another date – something she said that she was willing to do again; only adding onto the guilt now – and she had just turned him down. She had turned down Klaus Mikaelson. Klaus. The guy who she'd had her eyes on since day one of starting at Whitmore. She felt like screaming at herself, feeling like she had just ruined every possible chance she had with the guy, all because she didn't feel like going anymore because she was being a sad little girl. Good job, Caroline.

"Oh. Okay…" he said, clearly disappointed and ran a hand through his hair. _Stupid Caroline. Stupid!_ "I guess I can understand." His hand dropped back to his side and he put his hands in his pockets as he released a resigned sigh. "Look. If you change your mind, my offer is still open. Just come find me and let me know."

"I'm sorry Klaus." She said guiltily. "It honestly hasn't got anything to do with you. I really want to go on another date with you, don't get me wrong, because I really,_ really_ do. It's just that I'm not in the right headspace at the moment with Elena in hospital, my mother all the way back in Mystic Falls and Bonnie all the way across the other side of the world. It's been rough since Elena's accident, and I don't want to burden anyone with it."

"It's okay," he said, "Really. No need to apologise."

"But I just feel so guilty now and –"

"Caroline," he grabbed onto her arms gently, making her halt her words and look at him, "It's fine. I'm not going to hate you or never talk to you again just because you don't feel like going. You're worried about Elena. I get it. Maybe another day then."

Caroline swallowed and nodded, trying to make herself smile. Why was he being so nice to her after she just rejected him? He was nothing but sweet to her even after she just shut him down. She really needed to grow a few more brain cells. "Definitely. And you can hold my word to it. I really am sorry."

Feeling as if her words weren't enough, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, burying her face in his chest. "I'm sorry." She repeated again into his shirt when she felt him wrap his arms around her in response.

"Honestly, love, you need to stop apologising. I don't want you to make me regret asking you." He teased, and a part of Caroline was glad that he was still able to joke around after she just crushed him like that.

"So you don't regret it even though I said no?" she asked.

"I've told you before, Caroline. I fancy you. I'm quite fond of you, so why would I regret asking you? Your answer only makes me more determined to keep going until you say yes."

* * *

**Nawwww poor Klaus. It's okay baby, she'll go on a date with you another time.**

**I have a feeling that Caroline's decision to say no to Klaus is going to have several reactions - which I completely expected - so here is a little clarification as to why she said no if you aren't convinced by her dialogue. Elena is her closest friend, and they had decided from the beginning to pretty much go through their first year of college together, especially with Bonnie overseas currently. Now that Elena has been in an accident, it's making it hard for Caroline to go through it all without Bonnie, Matt etc. there for some kind of comfort. She's still in a state of shock and is still coming to terms with it, but I promise, she will get over it very soon! On the bright side, she 100% promised that she will definitely go out with him when he asked her next!**

**Please leave a review! I love hearing from you all and they literally are the thing that keep me updating frequently.**

**Celeste xoxo**


	7. Friend, Lover, Blondie

**Hello my loves! Here's another chapter. This one is rather short and it doesn't have much Klaroline in it because it's a bit of a filler chapter, but I felt like it was necessary. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7: _Friend, Lover, Blondie_**

* * *

_And I am feeling so small_  
_ It was over my head_  
_ I know nothing at all_

_ And I will stumble and fall_  
_ I'm still learning to love_  
_ Just starting to crawl_

_- Say Something, __A Great Big World  
ft. Christina Aguilera_

* * *

Caroline's Sunday morning was much like her morning on Saturday; sad and lonely. She had gone to see Elena again and Caroline was greeted with the same sight – an unconscious best friend. She stayed there for just over an hour and had finally decided that she couldn't handle seeing Elena in that state any longer. As she was leaving, she ran into Damon, the two of them standing in each other's way in the doorway of Elena's room.

"Hello Barbie."

"Dick."

Then silence. Awkward silence as a matter of fact. Damon stood there watching her, waiting for her to say something while she chewed on her bottom lip and nodded her head awkwardly.

"We need to stop this." She said abruptly and Damon gave her a confused look. "This constant bickering between us." She clarified for him, trying to resist the urge to roll her eyes so she didn't contradict herself.

"What are you getting at? You only want to stop this now for Elena's sake? Do you honestly think it's a good idea to change everything now, blondie? Just because my girlfriend is sick?"

"Not just for Elena, you idiot." This time she did roll her eyes. "For us as well. It's not healthy for either of us, and quite frankly, I want it to be over with, especially since you are dating my best friend now. And I still think you owe me an apology." Caroline crossed her arms in a challenging way as she eyed him

Damon scowled, not liking the idea of things changing because they had all had a change of heart after seeing the condition his girlfriend was in. However, he was willing to be civil. "Alright, fine. But this doesn't change the fact that we have history and that I still think you're an obsessive control freak."

"And it doesn't change the fact that I still think you're an asshole." Caroline replied. "Let's just try to get along."

Damon nodded his head slowly and pressed his lips into a thin line before gesturing to Elena. "Now if you won't mind, I would like to see my girlfriend. Alone."

Caroline released a deep sigh and moved out of the way. "I was just leaving anyway. I'll probably see you later." she said and started out the doorway.

"Caroline." Damon called out and she turned around to face him. He had that annoying smirk on his face again. "See you later, Blondie."

* * *

Once back at Whitmore, she pulled up in her blue Beetle Chevrolet and headed up to her room. She felt tired just after that visit this morning, feeling mentally and emotionally drained. She dropped her handbag onto her desk before flopping down on her back onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling, her mind reeling. Had she and Damon actually had that conversation this morning? Were they really going to try to be civil from now on? Was he going to really try or was he just saying that to get her off his case? She didn't know, but she just hoped they could work it out somehow.

Her mind travelled to Elena. Caroline just wanted her friend back at college with her, the two of them talking and going shopping and going to the college Ball together like they were supposed to. She just wanted Elena to wake up and everything be back to normal. Was she going to wake up? And if she did, would everything go back to normal? Or would Elena be scarred from the experience and never be the same as she was before it happened? Caroline didn't know. All she wanted was for everything to be alright like it once was.

Then she thought about her art classes. Oh God, they weren't going too well at all. She still hadn't come up with anything for this week's sketch. Maybe she should have taken Klaus up on his offer and let him help her.

Klaus…

Oh God, she still felt so bad about rejecting him. He had told her it was alright and that he understood, but it didn't make her feel any better. She still felt guilty, knowing that deep down under all of that mysterious and cocky bravado, he was such a gentle person, and she had crushed him. Maybe she should have said yes and gone to the Ball with him. She had bought her dress and everything already after all.

Caroline sat up and paced around her room, not able to take lying still anymore while she thought about everything. Needing some fresh air, she grabbed her camera and headed outside.

She made her way through the courtyard and through the garden, finally reaching the one spot she knew she could clear her mind. She sat down on the grass and leaned back against the tree, looking out at the lake in front of her. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the tree trunk, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She considered maybe calling Stefan to talk to him about everything that was troubling her, but she decided against it, not exactly feeling like socialising with anyone.

She stayed like that for a while, her eyes closed and trying to clear her mind. Eventually she decided it wasn't going to do much, so she lifted her camera and started photographing the scenery around her. She focussed mainly on the lake, changing the focus of the camera lens as she took each picture.

After a while, Caroline checked her phone for the time and saw that she had ten minutes until her History lesson started. She made her way back to her dorm to put her camera away and collect her books, then headed over to the lecture theatre. At least now she had something to think about and take her mind off of everything that had happened lately.

She walked inside and took a seat near the middle of the room. There was only a handful of people in the lecture theatre so far, so she was able to take whatever seat she wanted. It was one of the reasons why she liked being early, that way she didn't have to sit right out the front, because let's face it; no one likes sitting out the front.

Caroline unloaded her books from her bag and took a pen out, deciding to doodle in her book while she waited for the lecture to start. She sat there, her chin in her hand as she drew butterflies and love hearts around her page. She kept her gaze down when she felt someone sit next to her, not exactly wanting to make that awkward eye contact with the person, so she kept drawing. It was hard to keep her attention from the person though. She was feeling as if they were sitting way too close for her liking. What stranger would do that? Just sit uncomfortably close next to another complete stranger? She looked up to ask the person to move over a bit but her words faltered.

"Klaus." She said and shook her head slightly. "I didn't know it was you."

He smirked at her before looking out the front of the lecture theatre. "Well who else would it be? We've got that assignment to do after this lecture, remember?"

"Oh." She said, having completely forgotten about the assignment. She blinked a few times. "Yeah, right. I forgot about that."

"And here I was thinking that I'd never see the day you forgot about something like that." He said with a teasing tone to his voice. "Aren't you supposed to be an expert on organisation?"

She felt her cheeks flush with warmth. "Well, yeah but life has been a little hectic lately."

"That's understandable, but you can't let it take over your life, Caroline." He turned back to her and gave her a knowing look. "You need to keep living too. I understand that it's hard and that you feel like you can't, but if something does happen to Elena, you need to accept it and move on."

She forced her gaze away from his and looked down at her book, scribbling on it again. "How would you know? You don't know how I'm feeling."

Klaus frowned. He did know how she was feeling, but she didn't know that. She didn't know about his brother Henrik. "Actually, I know a lot better than you think, sweetheart. Don't judge a book by its cover. People use that phrase for a reason, and this is one of those cases." She lifted her eyes from her book and looked back at him. That had caught her attention. "You may feel like you know me, but sweetheart, you have no idea what I have been through."

There it was. That mysterious side of him that she saw when they first met. She had originally thought he was some cocky, self-righteous dick who just wanted to get in her pants then promptly leave, but now she thought otherwise. Now, in that moment, she saw that mysteriousness all over again. Not in a bad way, but in a way that said he had a secret that she was yet to find out.

"Then tell me," She said as if it was the obvious thing to do, "What is it that allows you to understand how I feel?"

Klaus shifted in his seat and clicked his pen several times. Caroline could tell he felt uncomfortable. His blue eyes focussed on hers and she swallowed to wet her dry throat. "That's a story for another day, love."

"Why not now?"

"Because I don't want to right now. Wrong place, wrong time. I'd rather not talk about it in public."

"Then we can go somewhere else later and you can tell me." She persisted.

Klaus pressed his lips into a thin line. "No. Not yet." He said with finality in his tone. He sounded so sure of his answer, he sounded powerful. It was almost… dark.

Caroline went silent and broke her gaze away from his. She looked down at her book and heard him sigh deeply. She kept her eyes on her book as the lecturer walked in and started speaking. After a brief moment, she felt him lean over and whisper to her, only loud enough for her to hear.

"I'm sorry Caroline." He said and fell silent for a moment before continuing. "I will tell you eventually, but it's just not something I like to talk about. I hope you can understand that."

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes and gave him a small nod, not taking any chances with talking in case she got caught out. Knowing her luck, she probably would.

* * *

After History, Caroline went back to her room and headed straight for her camera. She removed the SD card from it and put it in her laptop to hook it up to the printer and printed the images off. She went through all the photos she had taken and piked which ones she wanted to stick up around her room and which ones she wanted to put in her book. She flipped through the photos and found the one she had taken of Elena a few days before her accident. She opened up her book and stuck the picture in on a new page, then with a silver pen, wrote next to it on the black paper "_My sister from another mister, Elena xox._"

She stuck in a few pictures she had taken of their spot near the lake, that having been where they were at the time. It made sense to add them to the page. She kept going through the photos she had taken, occasionally sticking some up on her wall and some in her book. As she went through them all, she realised she had none of the new people she had met at Whitmore. She pressed her lips into a thin line. She would have to fix that. She would get some pictures by the end of the week. She didn't just want any pictures though. She wanted to take photos of the real people they were, not just day to day stuff. She wanted pictures that reminded her of something stupid that had happened, she wanted pictures of them laughing, she wanted pictures of them all in their element – Enzo being the smart ass that he was or joking around, Klaus sketching or talking about something he was passionate about. Those were the kind of pictures she wanted.

She opened up to a new page in her book and chewed on her pen before writing at the top of the page "_Message to me_." Underneath that, she began to write exactly that.

"_Hey future me. I know I've been treating this book like a time capsule that I would come back for to look through ten years from now, but I'm pretty sure that is what I'm going to end up doing. By then, I want to make sure that I'm doing the best I can with my life. I don't want to hold myself back from anything anymore, but it's hard not to. However, I am willing to learn to do just that. Caroline Forbes, you are going to move on, go to better places, see the world and get everything that you deserve. Everyone will be healthy and safe and get along. You will be a professional photographer, you will be successful, get the guy, be the luckiest girl on the planet and live happily ever after. I don't expect life to be exactly like a fairy tale because I know that it is the obstacles that make life interesting, but I at least want the happy ending. I don't want to be royalty and have a tiara like I did when I was a little girl. I want to have someone who loves me for me and that makes me feel special and I'm happy with that. I know that person is here because I always feel special and cared about when he's around, but I have been holding myself back. Future me, make sure you get the guy, because he truly is perfect. It would be a shame if you didn't go after him. After all, we all need a little loving in this big world we call home." _

* * *

**Not much Klaroline in this chapter, I know and I am sorry. I promise there will be a bit more Klaroline in the next chapter and we will even hear from Stefan again too. I felt like adding in a scene with Damon in this one, so now we can see that they are really going to try to get along. Let me know what you thought in reviews! :)**

**Celeste xoxo**


	8. The (Unartistic) Damsel in Distress

***JoMo voice* Hello sweethearts! (Did I get the feels going?!) I am back with another chapter! This week has been so busy for me on ! I've been updating this story, I've posted the first chapter of the sequel to my first successful multi-chapter fanfic _Charge_, and I've posted the first chapter to my new crime/romance story _Dangerous Liaisons_! You lovely Klaroliners should go check them out after this chapter if you haven't already! I am very excited for where I plan for them to go! ;)**

**Chapter 8: _The (Unartistic) Damsel in Distress_**

* * *

_The struggles I'm facing_  
_ The chances I'm taking_  
_ Sometimes might knock me down, but_  
_ No I'm not breaking_  
_ I may not know it, but_  
_ These are the moments that_  
_ I'm gonna remember most, yeah_  
_ Just gotta keep goin',_  
_ And I, I gotta be strong_  
_ Just keep pushing on, 'cause_

_ There's always gonna be another mountain_  
_ I'm always gonna wanna make it move_  
_ Always gonna be an uphill battle_  
_ Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose_  
_ Ain't about how fast I get there_  
_ Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side_  
_ It's the climb_

_- The Climb, Miley Cyrus_

* * *

Caroline was about ready to scream from frustration. She just couldn't wrap her head around the stupid weekly sketches for her art classes. She had no inspiration whatsoever. As if that wasn't bad enough, she thought she still lacked in skills too. Yes, they had developed greatly since her first sketch but her drawing abilities still weren't to her standard. The floor around her had scrunched up papers strewn around the place and the occasional pencil too. She had spent a good three hours just sitting on the floor with a pencil in hand and her sketchpad in front of her but nothing inspiring had come to mind for her to draw. Whenever she wasn't freaking out about the weekly sketches, she was thinking about Elena stuck in a coma, and when she wasn't thinking about Elena, she was thinking about Klaus.

She leaned back against her bed and sighed. Everything had become so hard lately. Caroline thought College life was supposed to be fun. Go to lectures and learn new things, socialize with new friends, go to raging college parties, meet seriously cute guys – Okay, she had succeeded with the last one, but her reality currently had a best friend in a coma, the other one halfway across the world, failing assignments and conflicted feelings about boys. Yeah, life was hard.

The fact that this week's sketch didn't have a specific theme annoyed her even more. She had the freedom to draw whatever she wanted, yet she couldn't think of one single thing. She might have been able to if she wasn't so stressed and worked up about Elena's accident, confused about her and Damon's attempts to be civil to one another and the worry of failing again. _Think deep and meaningful, deep and meaningful_, she told herself. That's what Klaus had said art was about. The artist expressing themselves through a personal image of how they felt and saw things. She attempted the drawing again but it eventually ended up as just another scrunched up piece of paper that was added to the others on the floor.

Her phone rang and she jumped up from where she sat to go answer it, any excuse to distract herself from the nightmare that was spread out over her floor. She looked at the caller ID and smiled before she hit the answer button and held the phone up to her ear.

"Hey Stefan." She said happily, glad to hear from her friend. He was a welcome distraction.

"Hey Caroline." His voice sounded a bit off, like something was bothering him. "Do you have time to talk for a minute or are you busy?"

"I've been trying to do my art assignment but I just can't get it right, so a distraction is something I definitely need after three hours of stabbing my sketchpad with pencils. What's up?"

She went and flopped down on her bed, lying on her back and looking up at the ceiling as she swung her legs back and forth over the edge of her bed.

"I'm just calling to give you an update on Elena."

Caroline frowned and sat up where she was. _This was not the distraction I had in mind_.

"How is she doing?" she asked softly, the concern evident in her voice. Her voice had dropped to almost a whisper.

"She's been up and down since last night. The doctors don't know what to think, Care. One minute she's doing okay, the next the staff are rushing to help her, then she goes back up again. It's like a balancing act. They said they can't even tell us when or if she is going to wake up."

Caroline could hear Stefan trying to keep the emotion from making its way into his voice and Caroline had to bite down on her own tongue to keep herself from making a croaking sound. The news had just made her bad day even worse. She forced herself to take several deep breaths before answering him.

"Okay, thanks for the update Stefan. I haven't been able to go in today, so thank you for that."

"Just take care of yourself Caroline. Alright?"

Caroline nodded though he couldn't see her. "I will. I promise."

"And if you want to talk, I'm only a phone call away. I'll even come to Whitmore if you want me to."

Caroline smiled, grateful for the care of her friend. "The same goes for you too, Stefan. I've got to go and get back to this horrid assignment." She said as she assessed the mess on her floor. "I'll speak to you soon. Love you."

"You too, Caroline." Then he hung up.

Caroline sighed and tossed her phone onto her bed before standing up and putting her hands on her hips. She glared down at the mess of papers and pencils on her floor, determination finally setting in. She pointed at the mess.

"I am going to draw something amazing and I am going to get a damn good grade back for it." She said to the mess. She felt a bit idiotic doing so but it gave her newfound confidence, even if it was just for a short while. She looked at the clock and narrowed her eyes. She had two hours. _You can do this, Caroline. You can do this._

* * *

An hour and a half later, Caroline was heading over to her art class. She had finally settled on a drawing that she thought she might get a better mark for, Caroline feeling as if she had poured enough of her heart and soul into it for a good enough grade. She had drawn the view of the ocean during a storm and had shaded the harsh waves of the water black. She thought it could represent the waves of emotions she had been feeling lately and all the mixed up thoughts going through her mind. It sounded depressing but if deep and meaningful was what Lexi wanted, then that's what she was going to get_… I think… hopefully... ugh._

Caroline had taken her Canon with her to take photos on the way to the arts building. Caroline still had a half hour until her class, so she had time to blow. She took photos of students passing by, the college life, the scenery, everything she could find that captured her interest. When she next checked the time, she had ten minutes left until the class started.

She made her way to the classroom and wasn't surprised to see that only a few students where there so far. Caroline made her way over to the desk she usually sat at, both Elena's and Klaus' currently empty on either side of her. She took a deep breath and then let it out, mentally preparing herself for when she had to hand up her sketch and receive the grade for last weeks. She was about to start giving herself a pep talk but decided against it when Klaus entered the room, not exactly keen to look like a total weirdo in front of him.

He gave her a charming smile as he made his way over to his seat next to her and she couldn't help but give him a goofy one back, only for it to be replaced by a shy and embarrassed one a few seconds later. She did not need a repeat of her blabbermouth like last week.

"Hey. How are you?" she asked. _Normal conversation, Caroline. Normal conversation._

"I've been alright. I would have been better if I had some time to spend with you though, sweetheart." He smirked at her and Caroline felt her cheeks go bright red. She loved it when he flirted with her, but at the same time she hated it because she made it so obvious that he had such a big effect on her.

Klaus knew not to bring up anything to do with the weekly sketches for their art classes, knowing that her struggle with them had just become worse as the weeks went on. She was visibly frustrated every time she spoke about it and Klaus couldn't help but think it was adorable but he would never say it, knowing that she would just glare at him because of the irritation the assignment had brought her. Most of all, he knew to not mention anything to do with Elena. He wanted to comfort her but every time she spoke of her friend, he could see the light that he loved start to dwindle in her eyes. He didn't want to extinguish that fire that burned inside of her. He wanted to keep it burning but he didn't know how to go about it when she constantly kept refusing his help. All he knew was that he had to keep trying.

"Well since you are so desperate for my company, maybe I'll stop by your dorm to visit you one day soon." She flirted back and twirled a golden curl around her finger. "Just make sure Enzo isn't there." She winked at him and laughed.

He smiled at the sound of her giggling. It was like a breath of fresh air, her sweet laughter bouncing off the walls of the room. If flirting with her was all that it took to make her smile, then he would happily comply. He was going to do it either way. Anything to see the girl before him happy.

They continued chatting, teasing and flirting with each other back and forth and laughing until their seminar tutor Lexi walked in – then that was when Caroline fell silent and came crashing back to reality. She crossed her fingers, hoping that she had done better in last week's sketch than what she had in the previous week. She glanced nervously in Klaus' direction and he looked at her encouragingly, silently mouthing '_you'll be fine'_ to her. She gave him a small nod before turning her attention back to Lexi who was coming around with everyone's sketches. Klaus received his back before Caroline and she could see that he was trying to hide how pleased he was with the grade he had gotten, more than likely for Caroline's sake. She felt pathetic. When Lexi handed Caroline's to her, she gave her an encouraging smile.

"It's an improvement from the first one. You should be proud."

Caroline swallowed and nodded her head as she took the sketch from her. Caroline looked at the marking paper attached to the drawing and saw that she had earned a pass.

"I didn't fail." She mumbled quietly to herself then shook herself out of her shock. "I didn't fail. I got a pass."

Of course, a pass was only just the next step up from a fail but she was just glad that she had actually passed her sketch. However, that proud feeling was gone when it hit her that it still wasn't to her perfectionist standards and disappointment set in again. Was she ever going to be pleased with her efforts in this class?

"It's still a pass Caroline." She heard Klaus say and she nodded slowly, trying to convince herself it was good, though it still wasn't good enough. "My offer still stands if you want me to help you."

Caroline stayed silent for the rest of the seminar, just wanting it to be over with already. Near the end of it, Lexi leaned against her desk out the front as she addressed them all with the theme for the next weekly sketch.

"So this week is going to be a little more personal. I want real personal meaning in these sketches…"

_Oh great…_

"I want it to be about something that you love, that you are passionate about, something that describes who you are, something deep and meaningful, maybe a representation of a secret, or something that you hold dear to you, or maybe even someone special."

Caroline kept her eyes glued on Lexi as she tried to keep herself from hyperventilating. She was internally screaming now. All term she had been trying to do the whole deep and meaningful thing and it hadn't been working. Now that it was the focus theme for the week, she knew she was screwed. She felt like sinking back into her chair and hiding under her desk for the next week until the task was over. It was like she was in her own personal horror movie, only this time it wasn't a creepy serial killer that was trying to kill her, it was her assignment. _Attack of the Sketchbook, The Blood Canvas, The Haunted Pencils and the Blank Page _were just a few movie titles that came to mind.

Lexi finally dismissed the class but Caroline stayed in her seat a little while longer while everyone slowly started to file out of the room, still too focussed on the fact that she was going to hit as low as possible next week during their seminar. She tried to think of ways to go about it that could help her but nothing appropriate came to mind. She considered writing a checklist or making a time plan or a table like she usually did but that wouldn't work for an art assignment. It wasn't something that she could do research for either or study up on. She felt like ripping out her hair.

"Caroline?"

She snapped to attention and jumped up from her seat, hastily packing her things away. She pushed a loose curl behind her ear as she did so, then cradled all of her books and her camera in her arms before looking at Klaus.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" he asked sincerely. She could hear the concern so evident in his voice.

"I'm fine. Why are you asking? I am completely fine. I'm not worried." She laughed nervously. _Totally not fine_. "I'm not worried if that's what you're thinking." She stopped and chewed on her bottom lip when he gave her a knowing look. She sighed and looked down. "Okay, I'm seriously worried and I, uh…" she trailed off before looking back up at him through her thick lashes, "I was wondering if I could still take you up on your offer to help me." She mumbled quietly.

She watched him carefully as she gnawed on her bottom lip nervously. She couldn't help but feel a wave of relief mixed with butterflies in her stomach when she saw him smile.

"And here I thought you'd never ask."

A smile took over her beautiful features and she held her books to her side with one arm so she could wrap her other arm around him in a hug. She pressed her face into his shoulder as he wrapped his strong arms around her. Caroline closed her eyes and breathed him in as she enjoyed the warmth of his arms.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." She said happily before letting him go, then instantly regretted not staying in his strong hold.

"No worries, love. Now I get to spend more time with you." He said with a devilish smile and she rolled her eyes at him before going straight into business mode.

"Is Wednesday morning alright with you?" she asked and he nodded.

"It's a date, sweetheart."

She gave him another classic eye roll which only made him chuckle. "Whatever smart ass. I'm going to go make a checklist of everything I need. I don't want to forget anything. Of course I'll need my book and pencils, but I need the good art pencils. Would you recommend using a 2B pencil or a 4B pencil? Or maybe I should just bring the whole set? Yeah, I'll bring the whole set. Oh but then I should really bring my Derwent colour pencils too, but there are so many different ones. Like, should I bring the normal ones, or the watercolour pencils or maybe even the metallic ones? Oh, what about if I brought some charcoal too? That would be –"

"Caroline." He cut her off.

"Yeah?"

"You're rambling again." He said with a smirk, clearly trying to not laugh at her. She felt warmth rush into her cheeks and she swallowed nervously. "Just bring yourself and your sketch book. I've got art supplies. Art major, remember?"

Caroline nodded slowly. "Right. Sorry. I forgot."

He chuckled and brushed a loose curl behind her ear. She closed her eyes briefly, taking in every moment of his touch. "I'll see you Wednesday, sweetheart. Okay?"

She gave him a small smile and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

**If you are a TFiOS fan, please don't hate me for killing feels by ending this chapter with the ever feels-killing 'Okay? Okay'! Haha! I couldn't help it! Let me know what you lovelies thought of this chapter! I love reading all your reviews. They warm my heart.**

**Celeste xoxo**


	9. Pictures of You

**Hello sweethearts! Here is the most recent chapter of _Pictures Of You_! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you like it. There is a little part of me inside called a Klaroline fangirl that thinks you're gonna enjoy this one!**

**Chapter 9: _Pictures of You_**

* * *

_Pictures of you, pictures of me,_  
_ Hung upon your wall for the world to see._  
_ Pictures of you, pictures of me,_  
_ Remind us all of what we used to be._

_Confess to me, every secret moment,_  
_ Every stolen promise you believed._  
_ Confess to me, all that lies between us,_  
_ All that lies between you and me._

_- Pictures Of You, The Last Goodnight_

* * *

Klaus sat at the bar with Kol, Stefan, Damon and Enzo, swirling around the bourbon in his glass. Matt was working the day shift with another two bartenders, so he made himself their personal bus boy, wanting to be in on the conversation.

"– and what do you suggest I do then, Stef? Just get on with my life? My girlfriend is in a coma. She has been in a fucking coma for almost two weeks now! I am _not_ going to relax."

"Freaking out isn't going to help her, Damon." Stefan said and Matt nodded.

"Stefan's got a point."

"I don't care, Donovan." Damon said with complete disinterest.

"As much as I hate to agree with anyone other than myself, Matthew and Stefan do have a point, buddy." Enzo chimed in which only made Damon get up from his chair. He threw his drink back, tossed a couple of notes onto the bar in front of Matt and grabbed a bottle of whiskey.

"I'm going to play some darts and brood by myself for a minute." He said and took off.

Klaus still kept his attention on his glass as Damon left, Enzo in tow behind him. Klaus didn't mind the guy, but he was like Damon's bitch, just as Damon was Enzo's.

"I think," Kol started, finally speaking up after a long while, "that you all need to get over Elena being out cold and go do something with yourselves."

Klaus raised a brow at his brother. He honestly didn't care about Elena. The only reason why he gave a sliver of a shit was because of the toll it was having on Caroline. "Then what do you suggest, brother?" Klaus said in a tone that told Kol he honestly didn't care what he had to say. It didn't stop Kol from talking, though.

"I'm just saying that you all need to just go have a little fun. Do something reckless. Remember the good old days, Nik? We used to be so good at being reckless, including Stefan. But now Stefan has gone soft and you are too busy painting sunsets." He mocked.

Klaus' face contorted with anger and he punched his brother hard in the arm. Kol grunted and put his hand over the spot, only to be smiling once again a few seconds later. "Now look who is brooding?"

"If you aren't careful, the next thing to come out of your mouth will be your teeth." Klaus threatened dryly and Kol grinned.

"Not in my bar, please." Matt cut in.

"Then perhaps we should take this outside." Kol suggested. "Or perhaps we should go find that little blonde distraction of yours and entertain ourselves with her."

Klaus' grip on his tumbler tightened. Stefan grabbed onto Kol's arm and pulled him away from Klaus, knowing that he would snap if another word came out of Kol's smart ass mouth. Klaus threw back his drink and a growl formed in the back of his throat. He held his glass out to Matt who hesitantly poured him another round and took the money for it.

"I'm not giving you guys anymore alcohol after that one." Matt informed him and Klaus pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Doesn't matter anyway, mate. I need to drive back to Whitmore in one piece."

Stefan eventually came back and sat down. Klaus furrowed his brows when he saw Kol was missing. "Where's Kol?"

"I was trying to get him to go play darts with Damon and Enzo but he's entertaining himself with some girl around the corner." Stefan said as Klaus busied himself with his drink. "Speaking of girls," Stefan started and both Matt and Klaus raised a brow at him, "What exactly is going on with you and Caroline?"

"Nothing so far but I am determined for something to come out of it." He said simply and took a swig of his bourbon. "She's not exactly willing to go out or anything much lately. She is making it rather difficult."

"Her friend is in hospital," Matt reminded him, "That's understandable behaviour."

"You think I don't know that, mate?" he replied sharply.

"Look," Stefan started up again, "It's obvious that she wants you too but she isn't going to go ahead with anything while she's feeling the way she is. Don't pressure her but give her a little push. I know that Bonnie and Elena were doing the exact same thing with her. What with Elena in hospital and Caroline's past with Damon, she's just finding it hard to move on."

Klaus furrowed his brows when he heard what Stefan said. "She used to be with Damon?" Klaus noticed Matt and Stefan share a look. "What is it?" Klaus asked, but when no one answered, he asked them again more forcefully. "What did Damon do to Caroline?"

* * *

Caroline was lying on the grass with her eyes closed. She had originally decided to go outside to get some fresh air and take photos for her book but she had found herself at her and Elena's spot under the tree near the lake again. She stood there for a while looking out over the lake at nothing in particular and had eventually decided to not question it, but to just lay down on the grass and enjoy the peace and quiet. The breeze was cool on her skin and for the first time in weeks, she found that she was able to take a moment to relax and not be troubled by her best friend's current condition. Caroline was almost drifting off to sleep when her phone started ringing.

'_So you wanna play with magic?  
Boy you should know what you're fallin' for.  
Baby do you dare to do this?  
'Cause I'm comin' at you like a dark horse.  
Are you ready for, ready for  
A perfect storm, perfect –' _

Caroline hit the answer button on her phone and put it to her ear. "Bonnie? Hey. Isn't it seriously late there?"

"Hey Care. And yeah. It's two a.m. here."

"Why are you calling me at two a.m.?" There was silence on Bonnie's end of the phone. Caroline frowned. "Bonnie, what's wrong?"

"I just couldn't sleep." She said then Caroline heard her sigh. "Stefan called me early this morning and told me about Elena's current condition. I couldn't exactly sleep with it on my mind."

Caroline pressed her lips into a thin line. She couldn't start moping at the mention of Elena now. Not when Bonnie was halfway across the world and had called Caroline for comfort.

"She'll be fine, Bon. I know it. Just have faith." She said sincerely. "I for one refuse to believe that she won't be out in time for the Whitmore Ball. We need to strut our stuff in our new 1920's dresses."

Caroline heard Bonnie laugh from her end of the phone and Caroline smiled, knowing that she had lifted her spirits even just a little.

"You're right, Care. She'll be alright."

Caroline nodded. "Exactly. She will be up and running in no time. Now go get some sleep, Bon. It will help."

"Okay, Care. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"You too, Bonnie."

Caroline ended the call and sighed as she put her phone back in her pocket. Deciding that she couldn't just sit there moping now after her conversation with Bonnie, she got up and went for a walk around campus. She didn't take any photos as she walked around, instead just holding onto her Canon protectively with both of her hands.

Ten minutes into her walk, she found herself walking through the dormitory building in a hall she hadn't been down before. Feeling a little lost, she decided to try and find her way back to her room but the smell of paint stopped her. She turned back around to look down the corridor and furrowed her brows in confusion. It was weird considering the arts building was a little way from the student hall. It didn't make any sense to be able to smell paint all the way from here.

Caroline walked down the hall, her curiosity getting the better of her as she turned around several corners, the smell of paint getting stronger. She thought she would possibly find the campus maintenance men painting the hall but that wasn't the case. Most of the doors to the dorms were closed apart from a few, and Caroline couldn't help peek around the corner of one of them where the smell was strongest. She peered through the crack of the door – _Caroline, you're such a creep _– and chewed on her bottom lip when she saw him standing in front of an easel. She took a step back and stared at the door briefly before raising her hand to knock on the wooden door. She heard the sound of him setting the paintbrush and paint palette down before making his way to the door and opening it.

"Caroline?" Klaus said, the surprise evident in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

She gave him a small smile. He was wearing a white shirt with denim blue jeans. His necklaces hung outside of his shirt and he had paint on his hands. She couldn't help but think that he truly looked in his element with the occasional paint splatter on him. His hair was messy and Caroline had to keep herself from running her fingers through it. He was beyond perfection.

"Hey. I was just walking around," she said then gestured to the easel on the other side of the room, "and I smelt the paint. I can't control my curiosity." She felt her cheeks flush when he smiled at her. _God, those dimples…_

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, sweetheart, though it's not exactly a good thing either. Curiosity can be a killer in some cases."

"Not in this case obviously." She replied then bit down on her bottom lip.

Klaus had to keep his smile from growing any larger when he noticed her once again chewing on her lip. It must have been a bad habit of hers considering she always did it. It was rather adorable, though.

"Obviously not. I don't think I could ever bring myself to even consider hurting you, Caroline."

She looked up at him then, her bright blue eyes focusing on his. They truly were beautiful. They suited her other angelic features perfectly. They would have been the perfect picture to paint.

She broke her gaze away from his and nodded towards the canvas inside. "What are you painting?" she asked. "You always talk about art but I've never actually seen you paint or sketch before."

"Why don't you come in and have a look for yourself?" he suggested with a small smirk and Caroline raised a brow at him. The smirk stayed on his face as he pushed the door fully open so she could go inside. She eyed him as she stepped through the doorway and towards the easel. She stopped abruptly in front of the almost finished painting. It was of a woman. Her skin was soft; it looked as if it was almost glowing. Her eyes were cast down, allowing a proper look at her long thick lashes. The light behind the figure allowed her golden curls to shine as they fell around her shoulders like a waterfall. The pink in her cheeks was light and her soft pink lips were smiling.

Caroline looked from the painting back to Klaus who had his hands in his pockets and was watching her carefully. She could almost feel the worry radiating off of him.

"You painted me." She whispered and he nodded his head ever so slightly.

"You are quite the sight, Caroline. Something an artist could only ever dream of painting. Of course, I would never be able to capture your beauty properly in a painting but it's worth taking a shot at it."

"Are you kidding? It's amazing." She said and shook her head in disbelief. "It's beautiful but… But why paint me?"

He gave her a look that said she should already know the answer to her question. "I've already answered that before, love, but I'll say it again. I fancy you, so it shouldn't be so hard to believe that I would want to paint you."

Caroline looked back over at the painting, taking in the beauty of the artwork. Did she honestly look as beautiful as that to him? But he said earlier that he couldn't capture her beauty as much as he had wanted to. Did he seriously think she was more beautiful than this painting?

She felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She knew she had been messing with the guy's feelings by rejecting him several times over after she had said she wanted to go out again after the first time, but she didn't know to what extent he truly felt for her. Now she had a feeling she knew. She turned back to face him, a sincere expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry about everything, Klaus." She said apologetically. "I promise I didn't mean to string you along like I have been. I just didn't know what to do or think after everything with Elena and…" she trailed off, not able to bring herself to say it.

"And after everything with Damon?" he finished for her.

Caroline's eyes flew up from the ground and she stared at him with wide eyes. "How do you… What do you know about Damon and I? How do you know?"

"I know everything." He admitted. "I know how he used you. I know how he broke your heart. I know how he's the reason you mistrust men. I know he's the main reason that has stopped anything from happening between us." He was standing closer to her now and Caroline could feel his cool breath on her face as he spoke. "I knew you weren't ready for anything yet. The truth is, I've tried to stop thinking about you but I can't."

Caroline was having trouble breathing, little did she know that she was holding her breath the entire time. "What happened to you then?" she asked softly. "I see how you keep yourself reserved around other people apart from me. Even with Enzo around campus. He's your friend and your roommate, yet you hardly ever breathe two words to him. You've never even spoken a single word to Elena either. What happened?"

Klaus fell silent as a deep frown took over his handsome features. His eyes turned dark and Caroline could swear she had never seen him look so hurt as he did in that moment.

"It's a long story, Caroline. I don't particularly feel like delving into it right now."

Caroline eyed him carefully. "This is about that thing you didn't want to tell me in History the other day, isn't it? You said you would rather tell me somewhere private. Well now we are the only two here, so if you want to tell me, you've got my attention and mine alone."

She watched as he had a mental battle with himself. Caroline knew how those felt. She had experienced them a lot lately. He swallowed and ran a hand through his hair before letting out a resigned sigh.

"Long story cut short, several years back, my youngest brother was murdered. I found his body." He said and then silence filled the room. "You know how I told you that my first sketch – the one of the dying white rose – represented innocence fading away? Well it was a use of imagery. The rose was my brother. Innocent, young and fading away." Caroline was sent into a mode of utter shock at his confession. Caroline didn't have any siblings to understand how that would feel, but she tried to imagine it and she didn't like it. It was heartbreaking. "And that's why I don't talk about it."

He had never spoken about it to anyone, not even to his family anymore. None of them could handle the horrible truth about young Henrik being murdered. They had never found his killer. That was the worst part – not being able to have closure. However, after telling Caroline, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt somewhat lighter, freer.

Caroline looked at him sympathetically and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Klaus."

That was all she said and it was all she needed to say. He squeezed her lightly before pulling her away from him to look at her again.

"It's not something you need to apologise for, Caroline." He said then made his way back over to his painting to assess it.

"Well what would you like me to say then?" she asked.

He looked from the canvas and back to her. "Nothing. Don't say anything. I would, however, like to paint you. If that is alright with you."

Caroline smiled. "Of course that's alright with me." She said, her excitement starting to slowly show through her voice. Her enthusiasm made him smile too which only made hers grow larger. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just do whatever you would normally do. I, for one, would like to see you use that camera of yours."

She let out a soft giggle, her laughter filling the room. "If you say so. Though I warn you, most of these photos will be of you."

"That's quite alright, sweetheart."

The next few hours were filled with both chatter and comfortable silence. Caroline told him about her life before Whitmore back in Mystic Falls, about her friends and family and the funny things that had happened with them. He shared stories about his siblings, saying how he thought Caroline would have been good friends with his younger sister Rebekah. They avoided all topics on Damon, Elena and Henrik, though. They didn't want to make the comfortable moment sour.

Caroline watched as he focused on the painting, his eyes looking from the canvas, to Caroline and back again to make sure he was getting her features right. She had grown used to the smell of the paint the longer she was there. Caroline was looking through her camera lens most of the time, photographing the artwork around her, the one he was currently working on, and Klaus himself. She could tell he was trying to not smile or acknowledge the fact that she was taking photos but Caroline knew otherwise. She would constantly remind him to relax and for him to trust her to not let the photos go anywhere public. She even told him about the book that she kept and stuck all of her photographs and messages in. Though her friends knew about it, she had never told them what was in it, but now Klaus knew, and Caroline was grateful for the fact that he wasn't judgmental of it.

Finally, he had finished the painting and Caroline looked at it appreciatively. The concept of it was simple but beautiful. It was her doing what she loved – Caroline photographing something with a bright smile on her face. Simple, but real.

"You have a real talent, you know that?"

"I wouldn't be majoring in visual art if I didn't know that, love."

She laughed and elbowed him in his side. "I'm trying to give you a compliment and you throw a witty comment back at me."

He chuckled and caught her arm in his hand. "Well thank you, Caroline." He said, his voice sincere.

She stared at him silently, looking up at him through her thick lashes. "You're welcome." She replied.

She found her gaze flicking between his eyes and his lips and she had to resist the urge to bite down on her bottom lip when she saw he was staring at her too. Slowly, without breaking her gaze away from his, she put her camera down on the table next to her before cupping his face in her hands and pressing her lips to his. Caroline felt her chest rise and fall heavily as her heart pounded rapidly in her chest and her stomach filled with nerves and butterflies. She felt as if her body was on fire when he rested his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. Caroline could feel the warmth of his body up against her own as their bodies pressed together and Caroline felt dizzy when their lips parted to allow their tongues into each other's mouths. She felt both light-headed and alive at the same time, all of her senses being overwhelmed by Klaus. To think that she had kissed him on her own accord was unbelievable. She couldn't believe she had actually done it. She ran her fingers through his hair before running them behind his neck and down over his sculpted chest. _Good God, he really is fit! _She let out a soft gasp when she felt his fingers graze over the exposed skin of her hips that her shirt was unsuccessful at covering up.

Realising how out of breath she was, she broke her lips away from his and looked down at her hands on his chest before bringing her gaze back up to his. He was smiling and she couldn't help but bite her lip when she realised a shy smile had taken over hers as well. For now, she had completely forgotten about everything; her problems with Damon, Elena in hospital, her bad grades in art, Bonnie's phone call, everything. Unable to help the grin that made its way onto her face, she linked her hands behind his neck to pull him back to her and kissed him again.

* * *

**Yes, they finally kissed! They're both starting to open up to each other more now and Caroline is finally fighting her demons and letting him in. Let me know what you all thought in reviews. I love hearing from you all!**

**Celeste xoxo**


	10. Caroline's Inspiration

**Hello my dear readers. I am back with a new chapter. This one is pretty rough for our dear Caroline but it's got plenty of Klaroline so there's something to enjoy!**

**Chapter 10: _Caroline's Inspiration_**

* * *

_It's just another night_  
_ And I'm staring at the moon._  
_ I saw a shooting star_  
_ And thought of you._  
_ I sang a lullaby_  
_ By the waterside and knew_  
_ If you were here,_  
_ I'd sing to you._  
_ You're on the other side_  
_ As the skyline splits in two._  
_ I'm miles away from seeing you._  
_ I can see the stars_  
_ From America._  
_ I wonder, do you see them, too?_

_- All Of The Stars, Ed Sheeran_

* * *

Caroline sat on her bed with her book open in front of her. She had printed out more photos from her camera to stick into it. She was slowly filling up the book with more pictures of her friends and the people she had met at Whitmore. She was glad that she had finally gotten a few photos of Klaus, especially since they were of him doing what he was most passionate about – painting. Caroline bit back a smile at the thought of him and subconsciously put her fingers to her lips. Ever since that kiss yesterday, it was all her mind kept going back to. She wasn't going to lie, she thoroughly enjoyed it, and she surprisingly felt happier considering all the drama going on in her life. Who knew that one simple kiss and an afternoon with someone could turned your mood right around? Well, she sure knew that now.

She shook her head to clear her mind and went back to her task of sticking in the pictures and writing in little notes on the black pages. Each of the pages were made to look unkempt, giving the book a somewhat rustic feel to it. Soon enough, several pages of the book were filled with notes and photos of Whitmore campus, herself, art, Klaus and places she could only ever dream of going. She furrowed her brow at the pages and chewed on her lip in thought. She still needed to get some pictures of Enzo to put in it. If this book was going to have parts of her life at Whitmore, she had to include everyone she had met. That was her next task.

After about half an hour, she heard a knock at her door. She slammed the book shut and sprung up eagerly from where she sat. She was about to run for the door but stopped herself to take a deep breath. _Calm down, Caroline. Calm down_. She made her way calmly to the door – having to resist the urge to squeal and dance excitedly – and quickly ran her fingers through her curls before opening the door. She smiled when she saw Klaus standing there, and she honestly would have rather just gawked at him the entire morning rather than attempt another sketch for art. Unfortunately, her art sketch was exactly why he was there but as of late, she liked any excuse to see him.

"Hello Caroline." He said and Caroline had to keep herself from staring at him. She didn't think she would ever be able to get over how sexy his accent was.

"Hey," she said and pushed the door wide open, "You can come inside. I've got my sketch book out and all my art supplies."

"You won't need them." He said as he walked in and dropped a bag onto the table. "Everything you're going to use is in this bag."

"Because that doesn't sound suspicious or shady at all."

He chuckled darkly at her comment. "Because I'm definitely a serial killer that likes to attack his victims with art supplies." He raised a brow at her and Caroline took a moment to really assess him, momentarily feeling unsure. He saw the look she was giving him and laughed. "Caroline, if I was a killer, I wouldn't start at a student. I'd start with the college security."

"The fact that you've actually considered who you'd kill first is concerning." She pointed out.

"We'll I'm not killing anyone. As you can tell, everyone is alive. Now go get your sketchbook."

"You're pushy. Sheesh." She said with a shake of her head and retrieved her book.

"What's this?" she heard him say. She turned around to see what he was talking about and her eyes went wide when she saw him flipping through the pages of her photography book. She tossed her sketchbook back onto her desk and made her way over to where he was, trying to keep herself from running there like a loony but wanting to take it away from him as soon as possible.

"That's personal –"

"These are remarkable, Caroline."

Caroline stopped in place, frozen from surprise by his compliment. No one had ever really paid much attention to her photography. Sure, they said it was good but it was usually said in a dismissive way. Klaus however, sounded genuinely interested in her work.

He turned to look at her briefly before looking back at the book. "You have a real talent, sweetheart. I can see why you chose to major in the topic."

"Thanks." She replied softly with a small smile.

"What's this?" he asked and held up the book for her to see. She felt herself go bright red. He was talking about the photos she had just put in of him. She forced herself to move over to where he stood so she could flip through the pages as she spoke.

"I thought I would add in photos, notes and such about the people I had met at Whitmore. Kind of like a book full of memories, so to speak." She told him honestly. "I still need to get a snapshot of Enzo." She said thoughtfully, more or so to herself before turning to look at Klaus. "I hope you don't mind. It's just that you speak so passionately about art and I'd never actually seen any of your work before. Safe to say, it caught my interest. I did warn you I was going to take photos." She reminded him.

She watched him carefully as he looked over the pages. A small smirk played over his lips, showing of his dimples that Caroline had always been tempted to poke.

"'I don't want to be royalty and have a tiara like I did when I was a little girl. I want to have someone who loves me for me and that makes me feel special and I'm happy with that.'" Caroline looked at him weirdly when he started talking, then her eyes went wide when she realised he was reading out what she had written a week ago. She tried to snatch the book away from him but he held it away from her as he kept reading. "'I know that person is here because I always feel special and cared about when he's around, but I have been holding myself back. Future me, make sure you get the guy, because he truly is perfect. It would be a shame if you didn't go after him.'"

Once he finished, he looked from the book to Caroline and she felt her cheeks go a brilliant red. The smirk was long gone from his face and his features now took on a more gentle expression. He knew it was about him. She could see it so clearly in his eyes.

"Is that how you really feel, Caroline?" he asked so much gentler than she had ever thought he would be able to. He didn't look like the gentle kind of guy. He looked rough and strong, like someone you shouldn't trust but looks were deceiving. She knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

"I told you it's personal." She replied softly.

"Maybe so but you and I both know that we've already crossed the line of personal boundaries." He said and brushed a loose curl behind her ear just to prove his point. She felt the nerves in her stomach come back to life when his fingers brushed over her cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed as her chest heaved and she could feel him taking a step toward her. "Besides, you know how I feel about you, Caroline." She felt her heart beat rapidly against her chest at the way he said her name with his accented voice.

"Then show me," she said and her eyes fluttered open to see him holding her face in his hands. He was so close, she could feel his warm breath on her face, "Show me how you feel, Klaus."

His blue eyes looked over her features before settling on her pink lips. He knew that they should be focusing on her art sketch considering that was the whole point of him being there but that was the last thing on his mind in the present moment. He was too mesmerized by her to process anything else. Her eyes fluttered shut again, waiting for him to kiss her and he did just that. Her lips were soft against his and he could smell the familiar vanilla scent of her perfume. He raked his fingers through her hair, enjoying the feeling of her soft golden curls between his fingers. She felt her run her delicate hands over his chest and behind his neck and he tensed wherever she touched him. He was still trying to wrap his head around how a simple girl like Caroline could have such an effect on him.

After a long moment, she hesitantly pulled away from him and made herself look at her sketchbook on her desk. He could see the blush in her cheeks. "We shouldn't get distracted," she said and brushed her hair behind her ear, "This sketch isn't going to draw itself and we might as well finish our History presentation today since you're here."

Klaus frowned. She had a way of changing the topic so easily. He would have much rather continued kissing her but he knew she was right. They still had to finish that damned History presentation. Oh well, it was still an excuse to spend time with her.

"Of course." He said. She gave him a nod and went to grab her book. She was going to settle down on her bed but thought better of it and spread everything out over the floor like she usually did. If they had started kissing over absolutely nothing, she could see what might happen if they were on a bed. She chewed on her bottom lip as she started to imagine what could happen – fervently kissing, clothes lying on the floor, skin against skin, her legs around his waist, the bed creaking beneath them, Caroline moaning in pleasure as he –

"Caroline? Are you listening?"

When she heard him talking to her, she shook herself out of her thoughts and focused her attention on him. "Yeah, I'm listening," she said and paused briefly, "What did you say again?"

He shook his head and laughed at her before repeating what he had said. Caroline sat there, listening to him and attempting the art skills he was trying to teach her. Caroline had to give it to him, he was a good listener and an even better artist and teacher, and she had even learnt a few nifty tricks, but she still wasn't brilliant like he was at art. About two hours later, she was done with attempting her weekly sketch and they had moved onto their Shakespeare assignment for History.

"– and the emotional stakes are even higher in this scene compared to when they were originally going to kill themselves. It's all part of the character's arc and the catharsis of the play. It all builds up to this moment. That is why it needs to be so powerful."

"And the fact that they aren't just doing it out of frustration like they were going to in the previous scenes." Caroline pointed out, glad that Klaus was there to give his opinion. "Romeo's experienced banishment by that point and knows what it's like to live a life without Juliet, and when the friar's letter doesn't get to him about the plan and he finds out from Balthazar that Juliet is supposedly dead, he's 100 percent certain that he wants to die." Caroline's phone buzzed then but she ignored it and kept going, not wanting to stop when she was on a roll. "Even the apothecary warns him of how powerful the poison is and he still takes it. He's hit that moment of realization."

Klaus nodded. "Exactly. So I think what we have to address here is the character's –"

Klaus stopped speaking when they heard a knock on the door and a voice on the other side.

"Miss Forbes? It's Anne from the student boarding office."

Caroline sighed and got up from where she sat and opened the door for Anne. "Hi Anne."

"Caroline, your mother is here to see you. She's waiting downstairs at the student boarding office to speak with you."

Caroline furrowed her brows. What was her mother doing here? She turned back to Klaus who was listening in to the conversation.

"I'll be back in five minutes. I need to go downstairs for a moment."

He nodded. "Do what you have to. I'll keep going here."

Caroline gave him a small smile before following Anne downstairs to the office. Anne went back behind her desk once they were at the office and Caroline stood there looking at her mother briefly before going to her and throwing her arms around her. She buried her face in her mother's neck, having missed her, especially since things had taken a wrong turn because of Elena's accident.

"Mom, what are you doing here? I missed you so much." She said as she squeezed her tightly just as Liz hugged her daughter too. They broke apart once Liz had gathered up the strength to let go of her daughter and held Caroline's gaze with her own.

"I've missed you too." Liz said and put a hand on Caroline's cheek. Caroline grabbed onto her mother's hand and smiled. "I'm only here for a little, Caroline. I just needed to talk to you about Elena."

Caroline felt knots form in her stomach. "Have you seen her? How is she doing?" she asked but her mother stayed silent. "How is Elena?" she asked again. "She's alright, isn't she?" Liz looked down. "Mom. Elena's alright, right? She's okay? Mom?"

"Caroline…"

"Mom, what's going on?" she asked and her voice came out as a croak. "What happened to Elena?"

Liz looked at Caroline with a somber expression, a sad frown on her face. "She's not coming back to Whitmore, Caroline."

Caroline shook her head in disbelief, not wanting to hear it. "No. She has to. We've got to go to the college ball together. We bought our dresses already. She has to –"

"Caroline, she can't."

"No, she –"

"Caroline." Liz grabbed onto her daughters arms and held her still. "Elena passed away this morning."

Caroline froze. She felt as if the world had just come crashing down. Her chest felt heavy and she found it difficult to breath. She stared blankly at her mother as she processed what she had just said. Caroline felt numb all over like she couldn't feel anything at all.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I really am. She deserved better than a short life."

Liz's voice was distant in Caroline's ears. She could barely think or process what was happening in that moment, the shock too much to handle.

"Are you okay, Caroline?" Liz asked gently and Caroline slowly nodded her head.

"I'm… I'm shocked." She replied softly, shaking her head slowly in complete disbelief. "I… I've got to go."

Liz swallowed and nodded, though she looked concerned. "Okay, sweetie, okay." She hesitantly hugged her daughter. "Just remember I love you, Caroline. I love you and you can call me anytime and I will drive all the way down here to see you. You're my daughter and you need to remember that."

"I know," Caroline said and gently pulled away from her mother, "I love you too, but I need to go."

She said goodbye to her mother and watched her leave before heading back up to her dorm. Klaus was still there but when he asked her what she needed to go to the office for, she didn't respond, still too shocked from the news. Klaus could see her eyes were glassy and he stood up from where he sat, concern taking over his handsome face.

"Sweetheart, what happened?"

Then she broke down.

Within seconds she was in his arms and crying into his chest. He didn't ask any further about what was wrong and Caroline was sure he knew just from her emotional breakdown. She clutched onto his shirt as she cried, listening to his voice as he spoke to her in a soothing voice and combed his fingers through her hair.

"She's dead." She sobbed into his shirt. "Elena's dead!" She let go of her grip on his shirt and wrapped her arms tightly around him, not wanting to let go of yet another person. It was too painful to bear.

"It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay." He said and placed a kiss on the top of her head, burying his face in her blonde curls. It pained him to see her so distraught. Her grip around him was unbelievably tight, but he let her continue, knowing she needed whatever comfort she could get. "She's in a better place now."

"She's dead. She's dead. She's gone." She repeated over and over again until her voice faded out and she was completely consumed by her own tears. "Please don't go. Don't leave me too," she sniffled quietly and he felt chest tighten at her words. "It hurts too much."

"I won't."

"Promise me." She said and tightened her grip on him, her face still pressed into his shirt. "Promise me you won't leave me, too."

He closed his eyes at her words and breathed in her vanilla scent. "I promise."

* * *

Klaus had stayed with her for the rest of the day until night came around and he had to leave. It turned out that the phone call she had received earlier while they were studying was Stefan calling her to let her know about Elena. She didn't have the heart yet to even send Stefan a text saying that she knew about Elena. She just couldn't bring herself to even look at a photo of her best friend.

Once Klaus had left, Caroline curled up on her side in her bed and stared at the wall. Sleep refused to come and bring her peace and her mind wouldn't think about anything but Elena. She tried to focus on something else and found her mind wandering back to how Klaus had comforted her and stayed by her side all day since the horrible news that had her drowning in her own tears. She sniffled and climbed out of bed to grab her sketchbook and a pencil. Once she retrieved them, she climbed back into the warmth of her bed and began to draw. She sat there, pencil to paper for hours until her tears dried out in time for her to see the familiar and intense eyes from her sketch staring back at her before fatigue took over and pulled her into a restless sleep.

* * *

**If any of you were Elena fans, I am sorry! If I hurt your feels a little, I am also sorry! If I didn't... well, I'll just have to try harder :P**

**Follows are nice, favorites make my day and reviews warm my little Klaroline heart 3**

**Celeste xoxo**


	11. Drunk Confessions

**Hello my dear Klaroliners! I have a little something for you! That's right! It's the next chapter of _Pictures Of You_! I enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you like it.**

**On another note, I've had the privilege of being nominated for two - yes, two! - KLAROLINE AWARDS on Tumblr! I was so excited when I found out! These are my first awards, so it's a whole new experience for me. **

**_Pictures Of You_ has been nominated for best fluffy fiction and _Charge_ has been nominated for best crime fiction! So I would just like to say a big thank you to all of you for the nomination, for sticking with me through my stories and for just being awesome! **

**I would love it if you all voted for my stories, but if you don't want to, then I won't be offended. It's your choice after all!**

**Chapter 11: _Drunk Confessions_**

* * *

_She turns and says don't be surprised, _  
_It's gonna be a good night, _  
_A good, good night._  
_ She's showing me a different side,_  
_ One I've never seen before_  
_ That I ignore._  
_Cause when I'm up she's all about me, _  
_When I'm down,_  
_ She stays around me,_  
_ Now I know I'm one and only,_  
_ So I might as well enjoy the ride._

_She's so wasted,_  
_ Acting crazy,_  
_ Making a scene,_  
_ Like it's her birthday._  
_ Drinking champagne,_  
_ Going insane,_  
_ Falling on me,_  
_ Like it's her birthday._

_- Like It's Her Birthday, Good Charlotte_

* * *

Caroline sat on her bed at her laptop, attempting to distract herself with her photography assignment. She had finally finished photographing what she needed and was finally up to editing the photos on Photoshop. She was going to have to put them all in a nice display folder once she was done to present and submit it. For her assignment, she had decided to photograph jewellery, the assignment being that they had to advertise a product. She had settled on advertising Pandora.

As she worked through each image, she tried to focus on the task at hand but her mind kept traveling back to Elena. Every time she thought of her friend, she felt numb and tears welled up in her eyes. Nothing was proving as a sufficient distraction from the fact that her best friend was dead.

Suddenly the sound of a knock on her door snapped her attention away from her thoughts of Elena. She stood up to go see who was at the door and her jaw dropped when she saw who it was. Standing in the doorway in front of her was Bonnie.

"Oh my God." Caroline whispered before running over to her friend and throwing her arms around her. Bonnie squeezed her back tightly and the two girls started crying a mixture of both happy and sad tears – happy to see each other but sad for the loss of their friend.

After a long few minutes, the two girls separated and looked at each other.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked. "I thought your student exchange program didn't finish for another three weeks."

"It does but I wanted to be with you guys after Elena… after… well, you know." Bonnie said and took a deep breath. "It was too difficult to deal with being so far away from you all. My exchange family were understanding about my decision, which was good. How have you been dealing?"

Caroline took a deep breath and sighed. "It's been hard," she said honestly, "but I've been lucky that I've got good company here to help me through it."

Bonnie raised a brow at her, waiting for her to elaborate. "Who's company?" she asked and her eyes went wide. "Please tell me it's that British guy. It is, isn't it?" she said and a grin appeared on her face. That was one way to perk up her mood.

Caroline, too, felt herself smile. "Maybe." She said and slunk back over to her bed to close the image programs on her laptop. Bonnie planted herself down on Caroline's bed and watched her with a big grin on her face.

"Has anything happened between you two so far?" Bonnie asked, then decided for herself. "Something totally has, hasn't it? You have this goofy smile on your face, Care. Tell me the details!"

Caroline closed her laptop and bit back a smile. "Don't tell anyone, okay?" she said and Bonnie nodded eagerly. She took a deep breath before speaking. "We went out on a date a few weeks ago. He took me to a restaurant and we got dinner. Then we started spending more time together and he's really good at art, so he painted me and by the end of it I totally kissed him." She said and Bonnie squealed excitedly.

"Oh my God, Care! I told you to get in there and you totally did! Did anything else happen? Was it just the one time?"

"Oh no, we've made out more than once." She said, causing another excited squeal to pass through Bonnie's lips.

"Please tell me you guys have made it official?"

Caroline shook her head. "We haven't. I think he's holding back from asking me because of Elena passing away. He knows I won't say yes if I'm in a mood."

Bonnie frowned. "Why's that?"

"Because he asked me to the dance back when Elena was in hospital and I said no."

"Caroline!" Bonnie scolded her and grabbed hold of Caroline's arms to shake her. "You should have said yes!"

"Well I was upset about Elena." She said and felt her mood darken at the thought of her departed friend. "I haven't exactly been in the best state of mind lately."

The two girls sat in silence for a long moment, both of them thinking about Elena. It was too quiet, and quite frankly, it was too depressing.

"I think," Bonnie started, "That we need to go have some fun. There's a party going on later tonight. We should go."

"I don't know, Bonnie." Caroline started with a shake of her head but Bonnie stopped her.

"We are going. You need to get out. Besides, I need to make a few friends here too. We can dance, get drunk and have some fun for once instead of worry about everyone else. We need a release and this is the perfect chance."

Deep down, Caroline knew Bonnie was right. She had been cooped up by herself for weeks now, and now that Elena had passed away, she was isolating herself even more. She had to go out and have a crazy night.

"Okay," she finally agreed, "Let's go to the party."

Several hours later, the girls were dressed in their best. Bonnie wore a navy blue thigh-length skater dress. It hugged her bust nicely and flowed from her waist, showing off her curves elegantly. She had completed her outfit with black strappy heels and a black clutch. Her hair had been curled so her bob framed her face nicely. She had wanted to look elegant but also hot at the same time, and she had achieved exactly that.

Caroline, however, had decided to go all out. Forget about elegance; she wanted to look sexy. Caroline had opted for a red dress that stopped halfway past her thighs. It was fitted and hugged her body nicely, accentuating her curves. The waist of the dress was covered in black lace. Like Bonnie, she had a black clutch to match with the lace on her dress and she wore black stilettoes. Her blonde hair had been styled into waves and framed her face. She had done a smokey eye for her makeup and wore dark red lipstick. She knew a lot of people were going to be at this party, and she secretly hoped that Klaus would be there so she could show off what she had, though she knew he wasn't much of the party type. But hey, a girl could hope.

They made their way down to the party arm in arm and Caroline couldn't help but start to share Bonnie's excitement. She hadn't gone to any social events yet at Whitmore and it was safe to say that she was dying for a party of some kind. The party was at one of the boarding houses on campus. The boarding houses didn't have security keeping an eye on them, so they were the ideal place for a college party.

People were milling about outside the boarding house, laughing and carrying on. They made their way over to the front door where people were walking in and out and headed inside. Bonnie was looking around the place with wide eyes. She still hadn't seen all of campus yet and she couldn't believe how big Whitmore was. Caroline, however, was busy looking around to see if Klaus and Enzo were there, but when she saw the drinks table, all thoughts left her mind apart from one. She grabbed Bonnie by the wrist and dragged her over to the table. Caroline wanted to have fun tonight, so she wasn't planning on staying sober for long.

She found several coolers nearby and settled for cider to start off with, passing one to Bonnie and taking one for herself. She opened it up and took a sip before looking around at her surroundings again. Bonnie followed her gaze and tried to see where she was looking.

"Who are you looking for, Care?"

"As if you don't know the answer to that question, Bon." Caroline said and took another swig of her drink. Bonnie tried to restrain the grin that was threatening to appear on her face but failed to do so.

"I still need to meet this guy. The way you look when you talk about him is priceless. He must seriously be hot."

"Oh believe me, Bonnie, he is." She said with a smirk and nodded her head knowingly at her friend. Bonnie laughed at Caroline's reaction.

Just then a girl from Caroline's art class, Becky, made her way over to them. Becky gave Bonnie a welcoming smile before turning to Caroline and placing a hand on her arm.

"I heard about Elena. I'm really sorry for your loss, Caroline." She said sincerely and Caroline pressed her lips into a thin line. She didn't want to talk about Elena tonight. She didn't even know what to say when people gave her their condolences. She just wanted to drink and forget everything just for one night.

"Thanks, Becky." Caroline said then swallowed, worrying that fresh tears were going to reappear in her eyes.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." She said rather harshly and Becky frowned for a moment before her expression became gentle again. "I'm just fine."

"Well if you ever want anyone to speak to, I'm all ears, hon."

Caroline gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you, Becky." In truth, Caroline just wanted her to leave. To Caroline's pleasure, she did just that after giving her one last smile. Once Becky was gone, Caroline rolled her eyes and groaned before turning back to Bonnie.

"That," Caroline said, pointing a finger in the direction Becky had walked of in, "is why I haven't left my dorm. I hate the condolences talks. I never know what to say and I'm sick of hearing them."

"People are just trying to give you support, Care."

"Well I don't want it considering they weren't even there when Elena was in hospital." She retorted. "The only person at Whitmore that has helped me through it all the past few weeks is Klaus. No one else. Not even Enzo has been around. Hell, I can't seem to find him around campus half the time anyway unless he wants to be found." She said with a frown. "Don't get me wrong, he's my friend, but…" she trailed off then shook her head. "No. Actually, I don't even want to talk about this. I just want to forget about it all and party the night away."

"We're here to have fun," Bonnie confirmed with a nod of her head, "Not to mourn."

"Exactly!" Caroline took several gulps of her cider before taking Bonnie's hand and dragging her over to another room where the music was louder. "Now let's go dance."

* * *

A few hours and several drinks later, Caroline was in a brilliant mood. No one had spoken to her about Elena's death again and she was feeling like she had no care in the world whatsoever. Caroline and Bonnie had been dancing and laughing with a group of people when they heard that the DJ was going to set up an open mic for people to get up and sing if they wanted to. Usually Caroline would have said no, but she was too far gone to care.

"_Bonnnnniiiiieeee!"_ she whined and dragged her friend over to the platform where the microphones were set up.

"I don't want to do this." Bonnie complained.

"Yes you do." Caroline said with a tone that told Bonnie to not argue with her. Caroline leaned over the DJ booth to speak to the DJ and told him what song she wanted. He gave her a nod and a smile, liking her choice and went to put the song on. Caroline went back to her mic beside Bonnie and told her what song they were going to sing – or in this case, rap. Caroline was bouncing eagerly on her toes, and after a few more seconds, the song started up. The girls started swaying and dancing to the introduction of the song before the lyrics came in.

"First things first, I'm the realest  
Drop this and let the whole world feel it  
And I'm still in the Murda Bizness  
I can hold you down, like I'm givin' lessons in physics  
You should want a bad bitch like this  
Drop it low and pick it up just like this  
Cup of Ace, cup of Goose, cup of Cris  
High heels, somethin' worth a half a ticket on my wrist  
Takin' all the liquor straight, never chase that  
Rooftop like we bringin' '88 back  
Bring the hooks in, where the bass at?  
Champagne spillin', you should taste that

I'm so fancy  
You already know  
I'm in the fast lane  
From L.A. to Tokyo  
I'm so fancy  
Can't you taste this gold  
Remember my name, 'bout to blow"

By the time they reached the end of the first chorus, Bonnie wasn't feeling so self-conscious anymore and she started to enjoy herself as much as Caroline was. The two girls danced together, laughing and giggling whenever there was a pause during the song as everyone else danced and sang along with them.

"I said baby, I do this, I thought that, you knew this  
Can't stand no haters and honest, the truth is  
And my flow retarded, they speak it, depart it  
Swagger on super, I can't shop at no department  
Better get my money on time, if they not money, decline  
And swear I meant that there so much that they give that line a rewind  
So get my money on time, if they not money, decline  
I just can't worry 'bout no haters, gotta stay on my grind  
Now tell me, who that, who that?  
That do that, do that?  
Put that paper over all, I thought you knew that, knew that  
I be that I-G-G-Y, put my name in bold  
I been working, I'm up in here with some change to throw"

By this point, Caroline was sick of standing up on the platform and wanted to go somewhere new. She grabbed her microphone and hopped down from the platform and with the assistance of someone nearby, she got up on a chair to stand up on a table. Bonnie was still on the platform, not as much of a confident drunk as Caroline was. As she sung, she gestured to everyone else to sing with her.

"I'm so fancy  
You already know  
I'm in the fast lane  
From L.A. to Tokyo  
I'm so fancy  
Can't you taste this gold  
Remember my name, 'bout to blow

Trash the hotel  
Let's get drunk on the mini bar  
Make the phone call  
Feels so good getting what I want, yeah  
Keep on turning it up  
Chandelier swinging, we don't give a fuck  
Film star, yeah I'm deluxe  
Classic, expensive, you don't get to touch, ow"

As she was dancing and singing on the table, she looked around the people in the room and saw Enzo and Klaus step inside. She laughed when she saw them. She didn't know why, it was just funny. Caroline could even hear Bonnie giggling through her microphone and Caroline grinned widely, wiggling her fingers as she waved at them, trying to not laugh again. She went back to the song, and for some reason that she couldn't even think of, she ran her free hand down her side as she went down on the table, keeping her gaze on none other than Klaus fucking Mikaelson for the rest of the song.

"Still stunting, how you love that  
Got the whole world asking how I does that  
Hot girl, hands off, don't touch that  
Look at that I bet you wishing you could clutch that  
Just the way you like it, huh?  
You're so good, he's just wishing he could bite it, huh?  
Never turn down money  
Slaying these hoes, gold trigger on the gun like"

She grinned wickedly when she saw his eyes go wide at the sight of her. She stood back up and started swaying her hips and ran a hand through her hair as she sang the rest of the song. Bonnie was long gone and was laughing hysterically rather than singing. The DJ had taken the microphone away from her.

"I'm so fancy  
You already know  
I'm in the fast lane  
From L.A. to Tokyo  
I'm so fancy  
Can't you taste this gold  
Remember my name, 'bout to blow

Who that, who that, I-G-G-Y  
That do that, do that, I-G-G-Y  
Who that, who that, I-G-G-Y  
Blow

Who that, who that, I-G-G-Y  
That do that, do that, I-G-G-Y  
Who that, who that, I-G-G-Y  
Blow"

Once she finished, she let out an excited cheer and threw her arms up in the air before taking a bow. She kept grinning as she was helped down from the table and hurried over to hand the microphone back to the DJ. Bonnie eventually found her way back to Caroline, still in a fit of laughter when two guys came over to them.

"Hey!" she said happily then trailed off, not knowing the guys' names. "I don't know who the Hell you are, but hey!"

The guys shared a look and chuckled before turning back to the girls. "Doesn't matter who we are, darling. What matters is that you look hot as anything tonight." He said as his eyes raked over her body. Caroline frowned, feeling uncomfortable. She looked to Bonnie for help but Bonnie was too preoccupied by the other guy.

"Thanks, but whatever you want, I want nothing to do with it." She knew she was drunk and too far gone to even stand up straight, but she felt too sober for this guys shit.

Caroline went to leave but he stopped her with an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body. She put her hands on his chest and tried to push him away, but his grip was too tight.

"Come on, gorgeous," he said and Caroline wrinkled her nose. He smelt of scotch. "You need to let loose and have a little fun."

"I'm not drunk enough for this shit." She slurred as she tried to push him away.

"I beg to differ." He said and leaned in to kiss her. She turned her face to the side and he caught her cheek instead, leaving a wet kiss on her cheek, making her pull a disgusted face.

"Let go of me, you fuckhead."

"No one's stopping us but yourself."

"I have a boyfriend." She blurted out, trying anything to get the guy to leave her alone. She knew she didn't have one, but it's not like a guy would want to persist if she said she had one, right? Right?

"Why are you here without him then?" he retorted. Caroline looked around the crowd. "Where is this 'boyfriend' of yours?"

Caroline's gaze searched through the crowd of people frantically, trying to find someone, anyone, who didn't look like a creep to pretend they were her boyfriend. When her eyes landed on the one person she felt comfortable with, she nodded over at him, making the bastard follow her gaze.

"That's him there."She said and called out to him._ Please, please, please just play along with it_, she thought. "Klaus!"

She saw him look around at the sound of his name and his eyes darkened when he saw her and the guy. _Uh oh, maybe this wasn't a good idea after all…_

Both Klaus and Enzo made their way over to them. Caroline followed Enzo's gaze and found that he was looking over at Bonnie. He quickly said something to Klaus before taking off in Bonnie's direction. Caroline didn't know why. Bonnie was still with the guy. Klaus, however, looked furious.

"What's going on here?" he said. Caroline could tell he was trying to keep the anger back from his voice. The guy looked at Klaus and let go of Caroline. Caroline couldn't help but feel smug about the fact that her plan to get the bastard to leave her alone was working. They usually didn't.

Caroline moved over to Klaus and wrapped her arms around his neck, and to his surprise, she pressed her lips firmly against his. He kissed her back for a moment before she broke her lips away from his to look at the prick in front of them. Yes, she would have much preferred to kiss Klaus than to deal with this bastard, but she knew he wouldn't leave unless she made her point clear.

"Now do you believe that I have a boyfriend, you sick bastard?" she said bluntly.

Klaus was momentarily shocked by her words, but then he caught onto what she was doing. He wrapped an arm around Caroline's waist and glared at the guy, but he just glared back at Klaus.

"I don't believe you, darling."

Klaus felt his blood boil. He pushed Caroline behind him and he clenched his hands into fists. "Don't make me mad, mate. If you had any sense, you would leave my girl alone." He said darkly. "I'm not afraid to break several of your bones."

By this point, Enzo had come back, pulling Bonnie along with him by her wrist. Caroline looked back at Klaus and she chewed on her bottom lip. She didn't need him getting into a fight and all of them getting kicked out, but she wasn't going to lie, he looked hot when he was angry. She put a hand on his arm and pulled him away from the guy.

"Just leave it. He's not worth it. Let's go have some fun." She said grinning at Klaus before narrowing her eyes at the other guy.

"Come on, mate." Enzo said and nodded towards the door.

Caroline saw the rise and fall of Klaus' chest lessen and her mood perked up even more when she saw he was calming down.

"Let's go. I am just starting to have some fun." She slurred then hiccupped.

Klaus looked down at her with concern etched into his handsome features and shook his head at her. "I think I'd much rather you went back to your room, sweetheart. You're drunk."

Caroline scoffed and waved it off. "I'm fiiinneeee." She hiccupped again.

"No, you're not. Let's go." He said with finality. He took her hand in his and started leading her through the crowd. She tried pulling her hand out of his, wanting to stay at the party, but he only tightened his grip. She sighed dramatically, having no choice but to go with him. She frowned sadly back at the house as they walked out and she looked at the party longingly as it slowly became smaller in the distance.

After about ten minutes, they were back at her dorm. She sat on her bed and pouted irritably, annoyed that he wouldn't let her stay at the party. She watched as he went to her mini fridge and got out a bottle of water which he handed to her.

"Drink up." He said and grabbed her desk chair to sit on.

"I'm not thirsty though." She hiccupped.

"Just drink it, Caroline."

"But –"

"Drink the water, Caroline. Please."

"Fiiine." She grumbled and started drinking the water. It was funny. She didn't feel thirsty, but she managed to drink half of the bottle anyway.

"Thanks for earlier." She said after a while. "For helping me get rid of that guy and all."

Klaus tensed his jaw at the reminder of that bastard with his hands all over Caroline. He didn't want to admit it, but even he knew that he had felt a pang of jealousy when he saw that guy with her. His moment of jealousy however, was taken over by a smug smirk at the memory of her kissing him and calling him her boyfriend. He knew it was just an act to get the guy to leave her alone, but it didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it.

"No worries, sweetheart."

After a while, she had drunk the whole bottle of water and he had even managed to get some food into her. She was still under the influence of alcohol but he could tell that she was sobering up the more water she drank and food she ate. After a while, he rubbed his hand over his face and looked at his watch.

"Look, I've got to go, love. I'll stop by tomorrow morning and check up on you, okay?" he said and gathered up his jacket. He stopped when he felt her slim fingers around his wrist and turned to see her looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"I don't want you to go." She said bashfully and her cheeks went bright red. She looked down briefly before looking back up at him through her thick lashes. "I don't like being by myself. Not anymore after Elena…" she trailed off and blinked back tears.

Klaus felt himself shatter at the way she spoke those words and looked at him. He wanted to stay with her and comfort her, but he didn't know if there would be consequences or not if someone found him there overnight. Surely not, since everyone at Whitmore was over eighteen, but if so, then he was willing to take that risk.

"What about Bonnie? Isn't she staying here?"

She shook her head. "No. She's been assigned another room. It's just me here."

He frowned at the idea of her being alone not just the past few weeks, but also now after her closest friend had died. It was clear it was taking a toll on her.

"Okay, sweetheart. You win." He said which earned him a tight hug from her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head in response to her.

"Thank you."

Half an hour later, Caroline was in her pajamas and was curled up next to him on her bed. She closed her eyes as she rested her head on his chest and breathed in the familiar smell of him. It was comforting. She felt the need to have something familiar to hold onto to keep herself from tearing up and she felt that Klaus was the only one who could give her that after he had been the one to comfort her the past few weeks. It just felt right. She relaxed as she enjoyed the feeling of him running his fingers through her blonde curls. She loved how gentle he was with her. She knew what he was like around others – less approachable, not as kind, but he wasn't like that with her. She couldn't help but feel special because of it.

"Klaus?" she said groggily, fatigue starting to pull her into slumber.

"Yes?" she heard him say and she tried to answer, her voice failing her because of exhaustion.

"I think…" she trailed off quietly, trying hard to beat her fatigue, "I think I love you."

Shock washed over him from her words as she drifted off to sleep. He knew that people didn't know what they were saying when they were drunk, but a small part of him couldn't help but hope that her words were true. He knew he was probably wearing his heart on his sleeve with Caroline around, but the part of him that hated being vulnerable didn't mind when it came to her. He looked down at the blonde asleep in his arms and stroked her hair gently before placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"I think I love you, too."

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**How is your little Klaroline heart going after reading that last part? if I didn't make you go "_Awwwww_!" then I'll just have to try harder! Did you like drunk Caroline? Let me know what you thought in reviews!**

**P.S. Don't forget to hop onto Tumblr/Twitter and check out the Klaroline awards!**

**Celeste xoxo**


	12. Bittersweet

**Hello all! I am so sorry it's been a few weeks since I updated! I've had university and a lot of family drama and rehearsals for my production Romeo & Juliet (I'm actually posting this from backstage right now in my costume! Opening night, woohoo!). Anyway, I hope you like the chapter. It was rather difficult to write (the last section especially), so I hope it's not too sad, sappy, or whatever.**

**Also, I would love to thank all of you so, so much for nominating and voting for me for the Klaroline Awards! My fanfictions didn't win either of the categories, but I just feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to be part of something so great created by the fandom. You are all stars in my eyes.**

**Chapter 12: _Bittersweet_**

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_It's been the longest winter without you,_  
_ I didn't know where to turn to._  
_ See, somehow I can't forget you,_  
_ After all that we've been through._

_- Better In Time, Leona Lewis_

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The first thing Caroline could comprehend when she slowly began to wake from her deep sleep was the pounding headache that screamed 'hangover'. She squeezed her eyes shut even tighter and groaned at the throbbing of her head. She clutched onto her quilt and pulled it over her head as she rolled over onto her stomach, only to feel something in the way. She slowly let her eyes flutter open and her blurry vision clear. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts and comprehend what was going on, but as soon as she saw she was practically lying on top of a man, her eyes widened. What freaked her out even more was that it wasn't a stranger in her bed with her, it was Klaus. She grabbed onto the sheets and pulled them up hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to see what was underneath or not. Relief poured over her and she released a deep sigh when she saw they were both still clothed, Caroline in her pyjama shorts and tank top and Klaus in his attire from last night. Sure, she had a thing for the guy, but she seriously did not want their first time to be a drunk one that she couldn't even remember.

She lay her head back down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling for a while before turning her head to look at Klaus. A small smile crept onto her lips as she watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful when he slept compared to his usual tension when he was awake. She was close enough to feel his steady breathes on her face and she could hear the faint sound of his snores. She let out a soft giggle at the sound but instantly regretted it when it only made her throbbing head hurt even more.

"Klaus." She whispered and gently nudged him, trying to wake him up but it only had the opposite effect. He moved onto his side and draped an arm over her and pulled her to him. She tried to keep herself from laughing. All she could think was that he was like a big teddy bear. She definitely had to hold this joke against him for a long time.

He pulled her up against his body so that there was hardly any space between the two of them. She had to strain her neck so that her face wasn't buried in his chest so she could breathe.

"Klaus." She repeated again, this time louder. "Klaus, I can't breathe." She said but he still didn't budge. She resorted to pinching him.

He grimaced at the feeling and rolled his shoulder back as he opened his eyes. "What was that for?"

"Good morning to you, too." Caroline said sarcastically with a rolled of her eyes. "You were crushing me and I couldn't breathe." She said then briefly looked down at his chest before lifting her gaze back to his. "And you're still crushing me, by the way."

"Oh, right. My apologies, sweetheart." He said and released his hold on her. They lay there silently for a long moment, watching each other carefully as they both contemplating what to say or do next. Klaus wanted nothing more than to close the small space between them and kiss her but didn't give in to desire. Her words from last night still had his mind reeling. He didn't know if they were true or not and it wasn't something he could just bring up and ask her. She probably didn't even remember saying those words. He knew that people didn't know what they were saying or doing when they were under the influence of alcohol, but he also knew that in most cases drunk words were sober thoughts.

"Do you remember much of last night?" he asked her, thought there was a fifty percent chance he was going to end up disappointed. He watched as she chewed on her bottom lip and he had to resist the urge to smile at her bad habit.

"Parts of it. I remember you saved me from that guy and…" she trailed off, feeling her face go bright red from embarrassment. "And my intoxication got the better of me and I sung 'Fancy' and danced on top of a table."

Klaus chuckled at her embarrassment. He remembered that. In fact, how could he not remember her walking into that party to see her dancing on that table? Especially with her bright blue eyes focused solely on him as she ran her hands over her body and swayed her hips with a sultry look in her eyes. She was like a vixen and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Now he was lying with her, the blonde goddess that she was, and he would have been smug about it if he didn't realise that she hadn't mentioned that one phrase she had said to him last night before she fell asleep. Instead of smiling, his features contorted in slight disappointment.

"Do you not remember what you told me last night?" he asked and watched as confusion took over her beautiful face. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to remember everything from the night before.

"I remember…" she started then blushed a brilliant red. "I kissed you and said you were my boyfriend."

He chuckled lowly at that. "I honestly did not have a problem with that at all, sweetheart, if that's what you're worried about. But do you remember what you said to me when we came back here?" he couldn't help but hope she remembered. He had fancied her since he first laid eyes on her in their first art class together. He could only wish that the woman before him returned those feelings.

"Honestly, I don't even remember why you are in my bed with me this morning." She said with a shake of her head and an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I must have been seriously drunk."

And that's when he felt his heart shatter – his small, black, stone heart split right down the middle. He swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling dry, but he kept his expression blank. He wasn't one to let people know how he felt. No, they had to work that out themselves. He'd already let his walls down far enough with Caroline around, and now this is what it got him. Sure, she was drunk and it was probably petty to get upset over something as such, but he had well and truly hoped that she remembered so she could confirm if it was true or not. Hell, he didn't even know yet. He had never experienced love before. He needed her to confirm her feelings so he could work out his own.

"You asked me to stay with you." He started, deciding to not dwell on it any more than he should. He would bring it up with her later. "You didn't want to be alone and you asked me to stay, so I said yes. We spoke for a while," he said hesitantly, not sure whether to quickly change his mind and bring it up or not, "and then you fell asleep."

"What were we talking about?" she asked, her voice soft, almost a whisper. He couldn't stop himself from lifting his hand to brush her stray curls away from her eyes, lightly brushing his fingers over her cheeks as he did so. Her eyes fluttered shut momentarily as his fingers linger on her cheek.

"How am I supposed to know? You were drunk. I didn't even know what we were talking about." He said with a hint of a teasing tone to his voice. It was partially true. He didn't know if what she said was true or not and he didn't even know how he felt yet.

He saw a ghost of a smile creep onto her lips before it grew larger and a soft giggle escaped her pink lips. Her eyes fluttered open again and they focused on his once again.

"I don't know how you were able to tolerate me last night while I was drunk."

"Who knows? Maybe it's because I fancy you?"

She smiled shyly as her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, they were almost as pink as her lips. He watched the colour seep into her cheeks deciding to just jump the bullet and press his lips to hers. Her lips responded to his immediately without hesitation and Klaus could feel the heat in her cheeks when he cupped her face in his hand. She parted her lips, eager to deepen the kiss and he followed suit without a second thought, both of their tongues running over the other as their kissing became more passionate. He propped himself up on his arm so he could lean over her while his other hand had left her cheek and was now running down her side. He felt Caroline shiver beneath him and could feel the goose bumps on her skin that his touch had left behind. She wrapped her arms around him and ran her hands along his back, feeling the muscles of his back tense in every spot she touched him. She hated the fact that there was a layer of material in the way and stopping her from feeling his body under her fingers.

She was intoxicating. He noticed how her mouth tasted like mint from when she had brushed her teeth last night before falling asleep. He wouldn't even care if she tasted like alcohol. He was too caught up in the heat of the moment to even remotely care. Even with her dressed in her pyjamas, her hair a wild golden mess, the evident tiredness in her eyes, he still thought she was the most breathtaking sight he had ever seen. He lightly rubbed circles on the exposed skin of her hips where her shirt couldn't cover and he relished the sound of the soft moan that escaped her lips. Wanting to hear her pleasurable moans again, he removed his lips from hers and started placing heated kisses down her throat. She arched her back and dug her fingers into his arms as she gasped at the feeling of his lips on her skin.

"Care?" they heard a sweet voice ask on the other side of the door, followed by several knocks. "Care, are you up?"

A low growl came from Klaus' throat when he heard Bonnie knocking on the door, but he continue with kissing Caroline's neck. Caroline released a sigh mixed with both pleasure and defeat and put her hands on Klaus' shoulders.

"I'm getting up. Just give me a minute." Caroline called out loud enough for Bonnie to hear her from the other side of the door, all the while struggling to keep her voice level. "Klaus." She whispered and quickly bit down on her bottom lip to muffle her sighs when his lips had traveled down to her cleavage. "Klaus, we need to stop. She can probably hear us."

"Who cares?" he murmured and it made her stomach do backflips. "I sure don't."

She knotted her fingers in his hair and pulled his lips back up to hers in a crushing kiss that lasted longer than appropriate with Bonnie waiting just outside the door. When she broke the kiss, she ran her fingers over the scruff on his jaw and gave him the smile of a rebellious teenager.

"Go down to the coffee shop in the courtyard and I'll meet you there. We'll finish this once Bonnie's gone."

"And why must I leave? Surely I can just stay here in your bed, sweetheart." He suggested with a smirk. "After all, I'm sure you've spoken to her about us. You are quite the chatterbox."

Caroline shook her head. "Doesn't matter. She's going to think that we've slept together and we haven't, so I don't want her convinced that something happened when it didn't."

"Why would she think that?"

Caroline raised a brow and rolled her eyes. "Um, hello? You stayed here overnight. Put two and two together, genius."

"Care?" Bonnie called again. "Is someone in there?"

Caroline shoved him in the chest lightly to get him off of her. "Come on. I'll meet you down there in five."

He grumbled and did as she said and they both got up from the bed. Caroline made her way over to the door and prepared herself for the onslaught of questions from Bonnie once she opened it. Sure enough, the suspicion Caroline thought Bonnie would have was etched over her face when she saw Klaus step out of the room.

"Klaus?" Bonnie said with a brow raised suspiciously as she eyed him.

"Bonnie." Klaus replied with a nod of his head before turning back to Caroline. "So we'll meet ten minutes before the History seminar to prepare for the presentation?" he said and Caroline furrowed her brow in confusion momentarily before catching onto what he was doing.

"Right. Yeah, I'll see you there. I've got everything on my USB and have already written out the cue cards, so everything's ready for it. I just need to print them off."

"I'm not surprised that you're already fully prepared for this presentation, love." He said with a shake of his head. "I'll see you then." He gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek before leaving down the corridor, leaving Caroline standing there with a goofy grin on her face and Bonnie more confused than ever.

"Um, what was he doing here?" Bonnie said as she stared down the hallway where Klaus had just disappeared down.

"We were discussing our presentation for History."

"At nine-thirty in the morning when you're usually sleeping to recover from a hangover?"

Caroline felt her cheeks heat up, starting to feel flustered from the little white lie. "Alright, fine, he came to check on me after last night to see if I was feeling alright." It was still a lie, but at least it was closer to the truth so it was easier to say without feeling as guilty. However, Bonnie wasn't convinced.

"I still don't believe it." Bonnie said and folded her arms. "You'd still be asleep. You sleep through anything when you're hungover."

"Alright, fine, he stayed the night." She said, caving after only a few seconds, then when she saw Bonnie's eyes widen, she quickly added "But nothing happened. I swear!"

"Caroline!"

"Okay, maybe a little kissing happened."

"Oh my God, Care!"

"Okay, _a lot_ of making out happened, but –"

"Oh my God –"

"– but nothing more than that! I swear! Nothing past that."

Bonnie's mouth was hanging open and no words were coming out. She looked absolutely speechless. Finally after a while, she found her voice again, allowing Caroline to finally relax.

"He called you 'love' and kissed your cheek." She said and shook herself out of her stupor. "He called you 'love' and he has a drop-dead sexy accent. Where can I find myself one of those?" she said and Caroline hit her arm playfully as the two girls laughed.

"Don't touch him. He's mine." She said pointing a finger at Bonnie which only made Bonnie grin.

"He's yours? Have you two made it official?"

Caroline frowned. "No. Not yet. We haven't spoken about it yet, though I'm sure it's what both of us want. We just haven't brought it up yet."

"Well you both need to stop wasting time and just make it official already." Bonnie said.

Caroline pursed her lips and nodded, knowing her friend was right. "Anyway, what are you doing here?" she said, changing the topic of conversation. "You interrupted my make out session."

The two girls laughed light-heartedly and Bonnie unfolded her arms and put her hands in her front jeans pockets. "I was actually going to ask you about what you were going to wear to Elena's funeral."

And just like that, Caroline's happy mood disappeared and the fresh wounds of her friend's death were exposed yet again.

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**~ Three Days Later ~**

The drive to Mystic Falls was gloomy, as were the black clothes that everyone wore for grieving. Almost a week had come and gone since Elena's death and it wasn't any easier for Caroline to deal with than what it was originally. So far she had tried to bottle up her emotions so she could focus on her college work, and her friends were also a welcome distraction, but grief still lingered in the pit of her stomach.

Caroline and Bonnie had decided to drive to the small town of Mystic Falls together, neither one of them wanting to be alone that day. Caroline pulled up into the car park just outside the cemetery grounds and turned off the car. The two girls sat there silently for a moment, staring out the windshield before looking at each other with solemn expressions.

"We can do this." Caroline said after a long silence, trying to stay positive. A small and tired smile made a short appearance on Bonnies face.

"Always the optimistic one, Caroline."

"Well of course. Why wouldn't I be? Yes, we've all hit rock bottom as of late, but the only way we can go from here is up. Only positive things from now on."

Bonnie looked like she wanted to protest against Caroline's theory but she didn't. Instead her smile grew. "Your positivity is contagious."

"Good." Caroline said and looked out the windshield with determination in her eyes. She took a deep breathe. "Now let's get through this."

The girls got out of the car and headed over to the plot where Elena's burial service was located. The service wasn't too long nor were there an abundance of people. It was organized so only the people who were closest to Elena attended. Jeremy, Jenna and John stood next to the plot Elena's coffin was being lowered into and the rest – which consisted of Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt and Tyler – Elena's closest friends, stood a little further back. There were tears – if any of them hadn't cried, Caroline would have thought they were made of stone – and as Caroline wiped her eyes, she was called up to say her speech that she had written. No one else thought they would be able to handle saying a eulogy at Elena's funeral, so Caroline accepted the responsibility to say goodbye to Elena for all of them.

She slowly made her way to the free spot next to Elena's grave and took out the piece of paper from her purse that she had written the eulogy on. She felt everyone's eyes on her as she opened up the page. She stared at the words silently. She knew everyone was watching her and waiting for her to start, but she couldn't bring herself to read off of a piece of paper. She folded up the paper and put it back in her purse before looking out at everyone, seeing the confusion pass over their tear-streaked faces. She took a deep breath in and out to steady her breathing.

"I had a whole speech written out and I was going to read it but I decided it would be best to just speak from the heart than to read words I had already pre-written, because let's face it, I'm obsessed with organization and I know it isn't like me to just do something unprepared but this just felt right and I'm starting to nervous talk now." She stopped herself and took a deep breath again before continuing. "Even if I were to read off of my pre-written eulogy, it wouldn't have done Elena any justice because she can't be described in words. She wasn't just Elena; she was and still is my best friend. She's Jeremy's sister, Jenna and John's niece, Damon's girlfriend, both mine, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler and Stefan's friend. What she was to all of us, we will never be able to find someone that's as remotely like her as possible. Elena was and is one of a kind. She had a kind heart and made sacrifices for those she loved. She was honest, trust-worthy, always willing to put others first. She even put up with my craziness when it came to running three different prom committees back in high school, and when it was becoming a disaster to organise, she came to my house with a tub of cookies and cream ice cream, even though she hates it, and we watched chick flicks just so I could de-stress."

Caroline laughed half-heartedly at the memory and so did a few others. Caroline's laughter, however, turned into a sob as she tried to finish. The salty tears streamed down her cheeks, smudging her makeup as they travelled down her face.

"All there is to it is that Elena meant something great to all of us and life won't be the same without her, but even though we can't see her, I know she is here with us. She's in our hearts. I know she is in mine, and she always will be."

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**I hope this chapter was alright. I've just had no time lately and I really just wanted to post it. Let me know what you thought in reviews!**

**Now I must go and prepare for my next scene! Adieu, adieu!**

**Celeste xoxo**


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